Undying Hearts: The Revenant Saga
by nweezle
Summary: Post KH2. Axel is dispatched by Xemnas on what seems to be an impossible mission - to reunite the entire Organization, in exchange for the one thing he wants the most. Axel x Roxas. Vexen x Larxene. Arc One.
1. Chapter One

**Undying Hearts:  
****The Revenant Saga**

**_Please note that all canon characters and settings belong to Disney and Square-Enix, not me._**

**_CHAPTER MINORLY REPRISED._**

_A/N: Co-write series of sorts with Luthien Sky. I'm writing this saga, and she's going to write the one that runs parallel to it, centric around Riku and Kairi, the title of which is a WIP. As is this fic._

_My UH is going to concern the Nobodies. LuSky's is going to concern the other characters – as I said, Riku and Kairi, also Sora and the kids from Twilight Town. And all that jazz. Though both fics will weave into each other, and we will be adding ideas to each other's stories._

_As you may or may not know, the main pairing, which is probably going to be mild, but very much a big part of the story's plot, is **Axel x Roxas**. There will also most certainly be **Vexen x Larxene**. If my male-fangirlishness can't resist it, there may be some **Axel x Vexen**. But incredibly small amounts. Or none at all. Or just subtext. And Axel tops. Yeah. I'm just digging my grave deeper here, aren't I? Also, any pairings LuSky has in her fic will more than likely be included here. They won't be too crazy, so I think you're alright._

_Also, I'm having doubts about the rating, especially with the content of this chapter! Just don't let little kids anywhere past the first few paragraphs!_

_Note: There's a very high chance (but I'll get to it more at the time) that Roxas won't actually appear in this fic. He'll be in LuSky's, but in this fic he'll be talked about more than he appears._

_Well. I should think that's all. I'll post more note at the end._

* * *

**_The First Arc of Undying Hearts:  
The Revenant Saga_**

_'...I can't tell if you're the same person that I know,  
But up 'til now, and from now on,  
Even if I made enemies with everyone other than you,  
Even if that day came,  
I'll always protect you, so do not lose..._

_...My lone flower.'_

_(HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR - Ichirin no Hana)_

* * *

**Chapter One**

The tannoid pinged.

_"Flight Two-Six-Six to Wonderland, now boarding at Gate One; Flight Two-Six-Six to Wonderland, now boarding at Gate One."_ A woman's hoarse, droning voice announced.

The speakers were loud – much louder in the restrooms than anywhere else, where they were directly overhead, fixed into the plain plaster ceilings. When the announcer's voice cut off, there was no other sound in the male restroom than running water, bursting quickly from the lukewarm tap of the middle sink on the row of marble counters. Apart from that one man, running the water, the room was empty, and perfectly still. The ajar doors on the cubicles never flinched, nor did the front door open.

Axel spat out the small dribbles of water from his mouth. His head moved upwards from the sink at a steady pace, and he looked directly at himself in the clean mirror. His hair was flat, the spikes dripping wet and the colour a dark red. Streams of the water were still running down his face from his hair and blinking eyelashes. Sighing through his nose, he continued to stare straight into the eyes of his own reflection.

All this time, and he still wondered how he had gotten himself into this.

It was all he thought about as he left the castle and travelled through the rift to Twilight Town. All he thought about as he used the small amount of Munny that he was provided with to take the transit ship to Radiant Garden. All he thought about on the way there. All he thought about for the two days he had spent stranded there.

He turned the tap off, and leant over the bedewed sink bowl, wringing his hair; watching as the remaining water emptied down the plug hole. After wearing the same black vest top for the past two days, he at last removed the unclean garment and proceeded to use it to dry his hair with further. Then, he pulled back on the worn jacket over his bare torso, fastening it up to the last button. It was mid-winter in Radiant Garden, and as much as his wish was probably futile, he didn't want to freeze to death out there; the wetter his hair was, the colder he would get, so he began to rub in a frantic manner at the masses of red.

Axel wasn't meant to live like this. He knew damn well he wasn't. Looking back in his reflection staring with the same vacant expression back at him, he knew – there was that look of degradation in the eyes of the man he watched - the poisonous green that usually flickered like a gas flame was lifeless and dull, even though there was now something filling the space in his chest where it was once hollow.

Subconsciously, his fingers reached upwards to his right eye, then rested just underneath. They stroked gently down his pale face, brushing against the familiar thin, vertical black line. He knew he wasn't supposed to be wrapped around someone's finger so easily, but... This was something he had to do. There was no other option.

He rubbed at his hair for a minute or so longer, then finally the red-head stuffed the top into his bag, which he then zipped up and threw over his shoulder. Finally, he pulled on his final piece of clothing, a large-rimmed hat – which flattened his hair down back into spikes – and then left the restrooms.

And he passed small crowds of people in the Gummi Ship Station. People taking advantage of this transit system now that it was in use. A lot had changed in the year he wasn't in existence, and that was one of them. Thanks to which, the population of Radiant Garden had increased considerably, as well as the pollution. The glossair fuel that the ships ran on had a distinct scent that filled the station, and the surrounding area, as well as the young man's nostrils. He walked through the station, faces just passing, never glancing at him, people getting on with their lives as if his life didn't matter to them (which it didn't). And exited.

As much as he truly existed, as much as he was now truly human, he was alone. Surely a very tall and thin boy in scruffy black clothes and bright red hair underneath a large hat was something to earn even the slightest glimpse from, right?

Wrong.

The air was bitter outside, and the usually purple skies of the world were a sallow grey colour. As soon as the doors to the station opened, Axel was hit by the icy wind. That jacket was _definitely_ not warm enough for this weather. He took a seat alone right next to the front doors; he sat down on the cold, cobblestone pavement, which was glistening with a layer of frost; his back to the station's wall, laying with one leg outstretched and the other knee raised to support his right arm in a 'casual' position. The empty pouch was opened wide, and left next to him, waiting to be filled.

That was it. All he could do now was wait as the common people strode past him without even giving him a second look. Or even a first. He was trying, at least. There was nothing he could do without Munny. Well, that wasn't true. He could scout the world, doing what he was _supposed _to be doing. But that aside, he had nowhere to sleep, hardly anything to eat; nothing he could get without Munny.

Munny he was never provided with for this 'mission' in the first place. Which is why, of all occurrences, he'd been driven to the life of a Goddamn hobo.

His head was tilted far downwards, his eyes shut tightly, his face covered by the rim of the hat. Yesterday, when he had left the pouch out, silently begging, no one had ever looked at him, never mind given him Munny. Fair enough. Nothing new.

No one ever gave a damn about Axel. Not in the last life. Not in this one.

So, what had made that day any different from the previous?

Through the small handfuls of people walking past, chatting quietly amongst themselves, someone walked very closely past him. Right in front of him, in fact. There was a clinking sound; wonderful, crystal-like. Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink...

...Was it really...?

Clink.

Five small, 'ten' Munny crystals were in the pouch when Axel opened his eyes and looked towards it, gently shining and glowing the warm colours they were known to radiate.

Fifty Munny. Had someone actually just given him that?

Whoever it was began to walk away at a considerable pace, just as the red-head looked up.

They had their back to him, but he knew anyway. He could almost feel fate's smiling lips pressing against his cold forehead, and his own lips curled upwards before they opened.

And an unfittingly grateful, yet familiar tone came out. "Thanks, Vexen."

When he stopped in his tracks, there was a prolonged pause. Despite the fact that everyone else on the street was still moving along, everything between the two of them was still. Axel waited five seconds or so for his reaction. And then, his smile faded.

He remembered.

The man he addressed was tall, at least half a foot taller than his own height whilst standing; clad (sensibly, unlike the red-head) in a long, black winter coat. It was apparent that even from behind, he recognised him in an instant; also – despite this – the other man hadn't recognised him. Though it made sense. Axel's face was shrouded under his hat when he was looking down. But now that he was looking upwards, his face was confirmation to what his unique voice had already started.

Axel never needed any confirmation himself – he had seen the back of that long, faded blonde hair so many times, he could still remember it well after two years or so.

There was a pang of guilt that hit him hard when this happened. A pang of guilt he couldn't believe he'd even forgotten. First off, after the prolonged stillness, Vexen gradually began to look over his shoulder. His body also then turned at the same pace, as his eyes looked directly into the red-head's. He hadn't changed after those years. His hair was in the very same style from the front, too, his skin still pale and beech-tinted. Interestingly, but not so much to Axel (his mind was on other things at this point), the only difference to his appearance was the thin pair of glasses he wore. It was probably because he didn't know what to do, but Axel's lips were parted, and he was giving the older man quite a vacuous look. The blonde's look was similar, but he seemed more in shock than anything.

He was looking directly into the poisonous orbs that had been burned hard into his memory. He didn't recognise him with his head down and the hat covering his hair so much that he didn't stand out. Like the other people, he didn't even give him a second glance. But unlike the other people... At least he gave him a _first_ glance. Since his voice alone had not been proof enough, his face – his eyes – confirmed the young man's identity. No... There was definitely no mistake. It was him. It was.

Another couple of unfilled, awkward seconds that seemed like dreary hours passed. Neither flinched, nor even blinked. It was only after realising his mouth was getting cold and dry that Axel composed himself. And even then, his looks were varied.

"Erm... Hi." The red-head's voice was anxious. He hated the awkward silence, but he had to say something. Anything.

But... What do you ever say to someone you...?

Vexen's mouth closed, but his eyes were still wide. He looked bewildered; probably also put on the spot. Axel was now cursing himself for having a heart. The damned thing was making him feel bad. Something he could have done without for this situation...

...Hell, what difference would it have made? He bet that he would have felt bad either way.

He waited. He wanted the older man to at least say 'hi' back. To just respond, in any way. Just to acknowledge him. He hoped that he would. He was probably waiting for something that would never happen, but he had to at least try.

He was right.

Vexen had a look about him like he was trying to convince himself he was seeing things. Like he was trying to convince himself that the red-head wasn't really there. He'd been near the Gummi Ships too much. The fuel was causing him to hallucinate. Of course. That was why. Axel couldn't really be there. No. No. Never.

So, he turned back again. He never spoke, or changed his expression. He just turned, and began to leave. Pacing. But quickly.

There lingering mindlessness struck again. Part of his subconscious thoughts made Axel scramble upwards (which was at least good in some way, since his rear was getting pretty damn cold and beginning to ache from sitting on the cobblestones), throw his bag over his shoulder, grab his pouch of Munny and race after the blonde.

He didn't really know what he was doing until he said, "Hey, wait!"

Even then he did the incredibly rash, not to mention _stupid _thing of catching up to Vexen and trying to stop him by reaching out to grab his arm.

The older man's entire body froze and shook as soon as he touched him. The anxiety grated hard on his nerves. What happened next was incredibly sudden, but in the space of two or three seconds, Vexen gritted his teeth, grunted aloud, pivoted, and with his free arm rammed a clenched fist into the red-head's nose.

There was a spine-chilling crunch, and everything was very still and awkward for that very moment once again. When he took his hand off his arm, stumbling backwards and yelling out, the blonde was free to make his escape. But he didn't move an inch. Axel's eyes were wide, and his right hand was grasped against his face.

"AHH- _FUCKING_... SON OF A _FUCKING_... OWWW!!" He began to scream aloud, stumbling around in various directions. "MOTHER OF _FUCKING HELL_! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! AaaaaaarrrrrGGGHHHH, _FUUUUUUUCCCK_!!!"

He continued like this a little longer, whilst Vexen stood with his fists still clenched, but in a fixed pose. Axel was well aware that _now_ the people passing him were taking notice of him, but he only (abruptly) stopped his cries of pain when he saw enough of one woman stood staring at him. Her expression was mixed – she was shocked, horrified, disgusted and infuriated, all in one. He came to a complete halt, only taking a second to realise why she was giving him such a look. Her arms were around a little boy stood closely in front of her – her hands cupped over his ears, even though he had a plain expression that showed that he had no idea what was going on, whatsoever...

...He was getting pretty damn sick of these awkward intervals.

Axel looked back at the woman, and – ill at ease – grinned.

"Heh. It's okay. I deserved it." He said with a discomfited chuckle and hand gesture (with the hand that was carrying the Munny pouch, definitely not the hand covering his nose), trying to make it seem to her like he thought she was concerned, even though he knew well that she was actually repulsed by his foul language in a public place; in front of her child.

The aghast woman pushed the boy along quickly, getting him as far away from the profanity-spewing red-head as fast as she possibly could. Axel shifted again, and looked towards Vexen, who had collected himself a little, and was ready to get away from him. He assured himself as he headed off that he would never have to see him again. Never.

"W-Wait!"

No. He wasn't waiting. Axel's footsteps continued to resound behind him.

"Hey, c'mon, would you wait!?"

No. No. Definitely not. He headed down into the borough. The younger man did, too.

"Seriously, would you wait a second!!?"

No. Never. Never again. He just smacked him in the Goddamn face, why was he being so persistent?

"...Vexen!"

Axel's voice sounded slightly off now that most of his nasal passage was damaged. He continued to call out, but, it was tiring, both chasing the blonde (who moved at a ridiculous pace) and yelling to him at the same time.

"...Please!"

So breaking his nose apparently wasn't enough. Vexen mused to himself on what actions he would take next. If he had to.

"...Just!"

...Maybe he could have broken his arm next?

Axel's breaths were becoming shorter, and his words were separate. But it wasn't just because of the pursuit.

"...W-Wait!"

...Or perhaps his leg? Or even _both_ legs.

The younger man moved his hand away from his face. He slowed his pace. The red liquid was there, the exact substance he dreaded the presence of. It dripped in uncontrollable ribbons.

"...I... I!"

He might as well just break his neck. Twist his head around hard. Shatter every single bone in it. Kill him instantly. Or just leave him to die. Whichever. It didn't matter. He'd get what he really deserved. More than the nose breaking. He didn't lie to the woman. He did have it coming. But he also deserved to have a lot worse done to him. _The dirty little bastard_.

Axel's footsteps ceased...

...Had he finally gotten rid of him?

Vexen glanced backwards. Just once. Just to make sure. And then he would carry on. He'd carry on back home. He'd never have to see him again. Never.

But that one look was all it took.

Like Axel had done before, it was all it took for him to detest his heart. He detested the feeling that rose from it. He detested the guilt.

The red-head was now on his knees. There was blood, blood of the same rich colour as his hair, covering his hands.

The guilt stung. Vexen had half a mind to continue walking again. He would just leave him like he was. After what he'd done. However, he was glued to the spot. His gaze was fixed on the younger man.

He looked at how pathetic Axel looked, on his knees on the cold paving, gasping out for air, in pain, bleeding, and didn't feel gratified. Not at all, not even in the _slightest_. For that, he could easily hate his heart. And every single feeling that came with it.

But with the state he was in, Axel would always hate his heart more. It never took more than a single glimpse at his red fluid to make him wonder how he'd gotten himself into this crap.

* * *

_A/N: You know, it took this chapter for me to realise that I hate writing Axel! I never know which one to use, the evil one from CoM or the soppy one from KH2. I think I used soppy one in this, due to heart retrieval. But even then I can never seem to get his character spot on. Not that there was very much charactarization in here anyway. We'll get more indepth next time. Plot holes to be filled soon, my homies! Until then, leave a nice fat, juicy review for me, please!_

_Luffles you!_

_**Nweezle**._


	2. Chapter Two

**Undying Hearts:  
****The Revenant Saga**

_A/N: Bugger! I forgot to put a trivia section in the last chapter! Some of this fic has references to the Final Fantasy games in it, as in, the elements from the games that are borrowed by KH. Such as the characters, the names of the airships (as Gummi Ships), the magic spells, items such as Potions, and more (you'll see). I think the only real reference in the last chapter was the glossair part. If you've never played through Final Fantasy XII (12), you won't know about the glossair engines. As FF12 is the only game in both FF and KH that mentions the fuel or engines of airships, I decided to use the glossair engines for the Gummi Ships. To the best of my knowledge, glossair is a type of green fluid used as airship fuel. You'll find out more in the next few chapters, anyway. I hope._

_So, without further ado, on with the second chapter!_

* * *

**Chapter Two**

Even if he walked away, there was no guarantee he would never see him again. If fire was Axel's primary element, it was probable that surprise was his second. He could leave the area, and head back home, but the circumstances were likely that the red-head would still find him, wherever he went; as far as these Axel-centric situations would go, Vexen always seemed to land himself in some kind of unfortunate occurrence caused by the younger man. Despite their polar-opposites it never seemed to go the other way. His ice could never cancel out his fire. His logic could never get the better of his impulse. No matter how much the boy pissed him off, he could never seem to get his sort of 'revenge'. Where as he never disliked him – _originally_ – he did rather hate that certain fact.

So, now, maybe he had a chance to do so. _Sort of._

The red-head's subtle brand of astonishment was perceivable. Cautiously, and at a steadier pace than before, Vexen had actually done the otherwise unimaginable thing of walking back over to him. Then, looking downwards at the younger man, from about a yard or so away, he – at last – spoke up.

"...What do _you_ want?" He all but spat.

Axel couldn't look all the way upwards, so the only part he could see of the blonde man was his boots. Even if Vexen himself wasn't satisfied with it, he certainly felt quite debased, practically kneeling at his feet. That was probably the least of his worries, though. After all, his nose had just been smacked. Hard. And was now bleeding. Hard.

"I... Just want you to wait... F-For a moment..." He said through a few exhausted pants. He was clearly still tired from the pursuit. Or maybe it was his injury, also.

"And, why would that be?" The blonde asked in the exact same tone as before. He narrowed his eyes in anticipation.

The red-head breathed hard for a little while longer, and then let out a long sigh. "Dammit, Vexen! D-Do we... Have to talk about this _now_!? Can't... Can't you just wait until I--"

He paused there, causing the older man to become slightly (more) frustrated. He wanted a straight answer, and he could ask again for one, but he knew too well that Axel wouldn't give one right away. Especially not in the state that he was in.

"Until you have done _what_?" He pressed regardless.

The younger man grunted and groaned in an irritated manner. Since that was his only response, indeed, there was definitely no way of getting the answer he needed out of him at that point.

"...I see." Vexen said in response.

"Huh. Do you?" Axel managed to ask matter-of-factly. He spat a little blood out of his mouth.

The blonde squinted his left eye, turning his nose up.

"No. Of course not." His answer was straightforward though the boy's question was sort of rhetorical. "What do you take me for? A mind reader?"

The younger man frowned beneath his hand.

"I'd... Take you for someone who'd... _Ugh_... Hear me out, at least...!" He said between gasps and moans. "Or... Am I expecting too much...?"

There was another bout of quietude between the two of them, where the only real noises were the common sounds of the world around them and the inarticulate sounds of pain Axel's throat was creating. It didn't take very long before the older man realised that, in fact, the red-head now had gotten what he wanted, now that he was _waiting_. Yet still he had no idea what he was waiting for, and especially having to 'wait' for such a person as _him_. Or why he even felt bad for what he had just done.

The guilt was still there, no matter how much he wanted to channel it into a ploy for revenge.

"Do you have something to stop the bleeding?"

Axel's eyes widened. Slightly. But he didn't reply. He just took the hint and used his free hand to rummage in a clumsy one-handed way through his bag, bringing out his worn shirt. It was still lukewarm from when he had been wearing it earlier. Still without a word, he held it to his face.

_'Is that all he has?' _Vexen mused to himself, whilst drawing closer to the red-head. "Very well."

He reached down and grasped him by the arm. When mustering a fair amount of strength to pull him up, he realised that the younger man was freezing cold. The clothes he was wearing were not at all appropriate for such bitter weather. He was shivering, which the blonde was only able to notice when he grabbed him. He managed to pull him to his feet with a rough tug, despite the fact that the boy lurched a few times before he did so. Then, he started to walk away once again.

When the older man had turned, Axel furrowed his eyebrows and glared a silent 'Oww!' at him, whilst rubbing his right arm where he had been grabbed.

"Collect your possessions and follow me. I don't have the time to waste dealing with you out here." Vexen said, looking over his shoulder briefly.

"Erm... Are you... Helping me?" The red-head enquired in a cautious tone. His voice was slightly muffled by the garment pressed against his face. At least it was stopping the bleeding.

The blonde didn't look back again, but still walking forwards, he sharply replied, "You don't wish for my aid?"

The younger man collected his things together and caught up as he was instructed to, as fast as his frozen and aching body would let him.

"I don't exactly have a choice, do I? But, man, you're like the guy who pushes you in the deep end and then saves you from drowning. What are you gonna do? Experiment on my nose? Amputate it? Inject some green liquid crap into it?" Axel asked, beginning to get cocky.

"Shut up." Vexen spat. He picked up his pace a little more. He lead the red-head through the winding maze of small houses in the now extensive borough, still at a pace that made the younger wonder if he was still trying to lose him.

The paved streets were glittering with a light frost, and due to the change in friction Axel slid a couple of times trying to (again) keep up. There was a wider path in the older, far end of the borough, where the blonde had finally stopped, and was waiting for his pursuer. He was stood at the front of a huge, dark wooden door to one of the single-level houses, which was normally known to be open, but was shut tight – as it was then – during the winter months. When the red-head was near enough, Vexen finally opened said door gradually.

When stood behind him the younger man opened his mouth to say something. But he never got the chance to speak, as the blonde again grabbed his arm and dragged him inside.

The interior was dim, and lit only by an array of candles around the large room, the light from the small window next to the front door and a collection of computer monitors on a far wall. He had seen the quaint little houses of Radiant Garden, or – as it was once named – Hollow Bastion before, plenty of times, but he had never actually been in one. So, once brought inside, Axel spent longer examining the room (which he had never thought would have been so dull, but at least it was warmer – a lot warmer – than outside, which was a feat in itself), instead of noticing the small group of people whom Vexen was talking to.

"Well, if _you_ ain't a sight for sore eyes!" A raspy, accented male voice said. It came from where the computer screens were. There was a well-built man in plain jeans and a shirt sat with his back to the monitors. He had a short mop of blonde hair, held in place by a pair of goggles, and a lit cigarette between the teeth at the side of his mouth.

Also in the room was a girl with very dark hair in a green headband. She looked to be under twenty years of age, and was perched on a chair which she leaned backwards on in a rocking motion, so that its only support was two of its four legs. She looked as if she was going to fall off any minute, but so far hadn't. The girl was also wearing a small black top and shorts – which were unsurprisingly also quite inappropriate clothes for winter. As the man sat at the computer spoke, she leapt forward off her chair and approached Vexen. At the same time, a short old man with a long grey beard dressed in a blue robe and a tall, pointy hat, whom was stood next to her, also did so.

"Man, you sure took your time! Did you get it!?" The girl asked him in an exited tone.

The blonde nodded, and placed the bag he was carrying on the table nearby. He opened it, and removed a large, rounded glass bottle. The liquid content was almost transparent, but it had a gentle blueish glow, which appeared alight in the dim room.

The old man peered close to the bottle, adjusting the thin glasses on his nose to examine it.

"Ah, yes! Splendid, splendid!" He said perkily.

Vexen handed him the fluid, and he spent another couple of moments holding it closely in his vision, twisting the bottle carefully and gradually.

"This is pure Wellspring water – just what we need! This will most certainly cure it!"

After doing so, he looked back upwards at the blonde.

"Yes, yes, I must hurry! I shall be back as soon as I can!" The old man continued, heading for the front door.

As soon as he had left the room, and the door had shut tight behind him, the girl spoke up again.

"Heh, nice going!" She chuckled lightly.

The man in the goggles also commented, "Yeah, we knew you'd give in and go get that Wellspring crap for her eventually!"

The girl gave a toothy grin. "Yeeeaaaaaah, for_ heeerrrrr_!

Vexen scowled and then shook his head. "Do _not_ start. I did only what I had to do. I happen to recall that everyone else refused. I had little choice."

"Hmph, _suuuuuure_." The girl scoffed with her hands on her hips. "Of course, we only refused to go so that _you'd_ go!"

In an attempt to ignore her comment, the blonde briefly scanned the room.

"Is Leon not with you?"

The girl pouted, slightly annoyed by this. He couldn't have made it more obvious that he was changing the subject from the current 'awkward' one. She humphed again, folding her arms.

"Nope!" She replied briefly and half-heartedly, and decided to change the subject again – herself. She put a smile back on and walked past him, up towards Axel, whom had been silent and quite reserved in front of this new group of people.

She stood up on her toes and leaned in to the red-head's half-covered face, to which he – at the same time – leaned backwards.

"Hey! Who's your friend?" She enquired, her dark coloured eyes peering into his bright green ones in a somewhat intrusive manner.

Vexen asked in an ironic, quizzical tone, "'Friend'?"

Axel gave a muffled snort through his injured nose. After this, the girl's expression then changed to a puzzled one.

"Right..." She said, looking back over at the blonde and raising an eyebrow. "...Then who's the 'random spiky-haired guy'?"

"Hmm. You could call him an old acquaintance." He told her. "He is of little concern. I should think Aerith will be able to heal his injury when her work across the street is complete. After that, he will be free to crawl back to wherever he came from."

The combination of the spite on his last sentence and the short, negative exhale from the red-head made the girl more curious.

"Whoa... Erm... Is-Is something wrong with his face?" She asked, putting two and two together after the mention of his injury and the material he was holding to it.

"Mind fillin' us in?" The man at the computer monitors requested curtly.

The blonde looked taken aback. "On... What?"

"That's simple." Axel piqued up. "Vexen hit me in the face. Broke my nose. Almost left me there to bleed my--."

The girl's eyes widened. She staggered backwards a little in shock and interjected. "Oh_geeze_wha-- Vexen did _WHAT_!?"

There was a moment of silence. A moment that seemed like it would be awkward had it lasted any longer than it did. Both the red-head and his older counterpart had an unpleasant tension between the two of them; whereas the girl could tell subconsciously, she was still too surprised to notice it fully. Luckily the quietude was at that point broken by the man in the corner of the room beginning to laugh.

He chortled loudly a couple of times, before inhaling the smoke from his cigarette in the wrong way because of it. He coughed, and continued to laugh, then did both for quite a while. The other three stared at him with their previous expressions unchanged.

"Hahaha! (cough) Seriously, kid!? He actually – (cough) – broke your nose!? Hah, you – (cough) – you must be a real weaklin'!" He continued to choke aloud, giving his chest a couple of hard whacks. "I mean, Vexen: he – (cough) – he hits like a Goddamn woman!"

Axel shifted slightly. "Well, that's what _I_ thought until about five minutes ago."

Vexen snarled and frowned at both of these comments. He turned away from his younger counterpart and sat on the chair that the girl was previously on before they entered. As if Axel alone wasn't bad enough, but now he was being goaded on. If he wasn't careful, he definitely would consider breaking another of his body parts. Especially now that he had proved that indeed he _didn't_ hit like a woman.

"Errr, so, why did you break his nose?" The girl asked before another unpleasant bout of silence could occur.

Fortunately neither of them had to answer. The front door's latch turned and it opened before anything else could make the situation more awkward. A young brunette woman with long hair tied in a pink ribbon, dressed in a white blouse and a long green pleated skirt – that seemed more appropriate than what the younger girl was wearing, yet was still not valid winter clothing – slid inside, shutting the door behind her. Despite the weather she didn't look too cold; thankfully she had only been across the street.

"Welcome back." She said to the blonde with a bold smile, whilst walking over to the group.

He responded to her greeting with a single nod. She continued to smile, but moved her gaze to the red-head.

"Hmm? Who's this?" She enquired sweetly.

"Definitely _not _a friend of Vexen's." The younger girl teased.

Both men groaned mentally and rolled their eyes in unison (but in their own separate manners).

The older girl watched them with thought, though slightly puzzled.

"Hmm. I see." She said in a light-hearted tone.

To this, Vexen rose from his seat abruptly, before she could begin to ask any more questions (which he knew she was bound to do if he didn't interrupt) and headed past the two girls in the direction of the front door.

"Aerith. A word, if I may."

The brunette turned on her heel.

"Oh. Of course."

He heaved the door open again and she paced back across the room, the wooden floorboards creaking under the soles of her boots. She followed him outside; once they were both out in the frigid, unchanged atmosphere, he shut the door firmly behind them.

"How is she?" He asked her promptly.

Aerith continued to smile. "She'll be okay. Thanks to you."

_'Thanks to you?'_ The blonde frowned, and shook his head. After a moment or two of wondering what he was doing, the young woman caught on to the reason he was shaking his head. Then, and only then, did her smile disappear. She sighed, and reached outwards to rest a gentle hand on the side of his arm.

"I'm sure she's grateful. She might not say it, but I'm sure. We all are."

He humphed, folding his arms. To the young woman, this seemed like he was trying to shake her off, so she retracted her hand, then placed both of them on her hips.

"You don't have to be like that, you know." She scolded with a wry expression.

He continued to frown, and so did she.

"'How I am' is of little concern to you." He told her bitterly.

"Oh, isn't it?" She pressed. Her voice dripped with sarcasm, but after speaking, she began to smile again, and gradually, a small laugh escaped her mouth, which Vexen didn't seem to appreciate.

"Hmm, alright then. Is that all you wanted to talk about?"

"I have a favour to ask. The boy, inside." He begun.

"Who definitely _isn't_ a friend of yours?"

"Why not ask him yourself? His nose is broken. I should think that you would have little trouble aiding him."

Aerith put a finger to her lips as she mused his request over.

"Hmmm..." She gave a slow response. "I'll see what I can do."

The young woman was starting to rub her bare arms due to the biting cold, and she shivered slightly on brief occasions, so he decided to cut the conversation off there.

The blonde walked away from her, heading across the street. "Good."

"Are you going to see her?" The brunette watched intently as he left her by the doorway.

"Yes." He paused briefly, before continuing on his way.

To this, she rolled her eyes with an amused smile gracing her lips. And she certainly was amused.

"Very well, then." She chuckled, gripping the door handle and ready to head back inside.

As soon as Vexen had reached the house on the opposite side of the street, he once again turned to face the young woman.

"One last thing, Aerith."

"Yes?"

He turned the latch and opened the door inward.

"Once fully healed, throw him out. I expect him to be gone when I return."

There was a dreadful bitterness that lasted long after the blonde had shut the door behind him. Aerith had known it – had felt it; had despised it – many times before. The cold snap wiped the warm smile completely from her face. A cold snap that definitely wasn't caused by the weather.

She proceeded to twist the handle in her grasp.

* * *

_A/N: Luckily for me, the FF characters are pretty easy to master. Aerith especially. Yuffie not so much, I imagine that now she's growing up she'll get less hyper. Of course, she's still happy-go-lucky and a little annoying, so I'm working that into the next chapter more than anything. Cid is nicer in KH than he is in FF, but since I'm working with a more mature basis I'll be mixing the two of them together. Axel is still my main problem for character portrayal, and I'm not sure if Vexen is perfectly in character (I reckon he's better at the end more than any other time). I imagine he would have a similar relationship with Aerith as she does with Cloud. It's quite difficult, because I've got to keep their characters as people know them, but I've also got to work in the fact that they now have hearts. LAME EXCUSE. I KNOW. Man. Why did I ever write this in the first place? Arrgh!_

_Anyway, trivia! Wellspring water is another FF reference. It's a special water that restores HP, MP, eliminates status ailments, revives fallen party members, etc. I'll put more on that in the next chapter, too._

_Also, in the last chapter, I made a huge mistake (and in the first few lines, too!) I put 'platform one' and then 'gate one'. But I've changed it so it's just 'gate one' now. Hooray! I must've been tired when I checked through. Arses._

_Chapters are going to get gradually longer. I think this is about three or four word processor pages longer than the last one._

_I just want to mention that for the last section of this chapter, when Aerith and Vexen were talking outside, I put Basement Jaxx on (cause sometimes I need music to solve my writer's block). Oh. But it made my writer's block WORSE. Seriously. I spent more time dancing than actually typing anything down. Not good. No. Never again... Okay, rarely again. It was fun, but it is a bit distracting. I recommend never listening to it when writing. As fun as dancing along is. Okay. Stop it, Nwee._

_Still not sure about the rating, but if I change to M, it won't appear in the listings. Stupid filters! Well, anyway, I hope you enjoyed this lame excuse of a chapter!_

_See you in Chapter Three, or in your review, if you leave me one! (Please?)_

_Luffles you! (For making it this far!)_

_**Nweezle**_


	3. Chapter Three

**Undying Hearts:  
****The Revenant Saga**

_A/N: Oh, yes, I forgot to mention last time that Aerith is in a sort of variation of her Before Crisis outfit, which is exactly like her KH2 outfit, but the skirt is green, not pink. In KH2 they made her skirt pink, so I'm making it green again! I think that's all I forgot... So we can probably start up this chapter pretty quickly._

_How about we kick it into gear? WHOOP. LET'S GO!_

_P.S. I noticed a few errors in the previous chapters which have now been fixed. Luff and fluff!_

* * *

**Chapter Three**

The dark haired girl waited until the front door was firmly shut before she exhaled loudly. She'd seen Vexen's 'I'm going to take you outside to talk to you in the freezing cold (because I don't get cold but apparently you do) about some stupid shit you probably really don't give two bits a damn about' act plenty of times before, and it was really beginning to get on her nerves. But at least now that he was gone she could use the 'dreaded nickname' without getting yelled at.

"Uuuueeerrrggghhhh!" She groaned very loudly once she was absolutely certain he was out of earshot. "I _hate_ it when he does that!"

After looking frustrated for quite a while, she then turned to Axel, whom had gone back to being quiet. Without a word of warning, she pushed him towards the wooden chair, forcing him to sit on it. He scowled at first, planning to fight back, but when he was sat down he changed his mind. He was feeling uneasy, probably – or most definitely – because of his injury.

"Sooo, Mr. 'Not-a-friend-of-Vexie's', do you have a name?"

The red-head steadily looked upwards at her as she again leaned towards him in an intrusive way.

"I guess so." He shrugged in an tense way, not particularly liking how close the girl was to him.

A pause followed, and she (thankfully) drew back. "Wooowww... _Subtle_..."

He looked at her again, this time blankly.

"Don't be a dumb ass, Kiddo! She wants to know yer name!" The man at the computers curtly informed him. He had begun typing at the keyboard below the monitors a short while ago and had paused in his work to speak up.

It took Axel a while to muse this over. He had never really thought about it before... Certainly he _knew_ what his name was... Or _did_ he? Now that he had a heart, now that he truly existed again, was the name he took as a Nobody still in his possession? Did 'Axel' still exist as his name?

"I know." He replied quietly, a little dumbfounded. For one he was starting to dislike the fact that Vexen had left him with these inquisitive strangers. He was also starting to dislike that fact that he had even run into him in the first place. But then, he remembered his mission. He remembered _exactly_ what he had to do. And he had to do it – he had to see it through – no matter what.

"Aren't you gonna share?" The girl asked, her annoying preppiness and constant pressure and questioning starting to piss him off.

He sighed and groaned at the same time beneath the muffling of the material against his face. "It's Axel. I think."

"Axel, huh?" She said, seeming to either not notice the 'I think' part or ignore it completely. She then put her hands on her hips an announced proudly, "Nice to meet ya! _I'm_ the Great Ninja Yuffie!"

'Great Ninja'? He took a good look at the small-framed girl, and paired it with what she had just told him. The combination of which caused him to choke up a (suppressed, by both the shirt and his own efforts) laugh. The teen watched him, furrowed her eyebrows and folded her arms. He dared to mock the Great Ninja Yuffie? That was certainly something that easily got her steamed.

"Hey!! What the hell are you laughing at!!? Don't be an ass, Ass!" She spat at him.

"I told'ya it wouldn't catch on! Shoulda quit while y'were ahead!" The man with the goggles informed her in a loud voice, looking briefly over his shoulder.

"Not you too!!?" The girl whined, before grabbing at her short hair harshly. "AaaarrrrrGGGHH!! You guys really suck, you know!!"

There was another brief period there when Axel wondered exactly what the hell he'd gotten himself into. Hopefully, he'd soon be able to get out of there. And he'd be back on track with the task at hand. _Hopefully_.

Once again, the door opened, and Aerith walked back in. It shut again behind her. There was a forlorn expression on her face, but before turning to the group, she changed it to another of her sweet smiles. Yuffie, however, knew that trick of hers too well. The way she'd get rid of her frown before anyone saw it. And she'd definitely seen it. Even if she was the only one who had.

"What did he say?" The girl promptly asked her, approaching her as fast as she could and threading her questions together one immediately after the other. "Was he angry? Did he yell? Do you want me to kick him?"

The brunette shook her head in a brisk way to each of these questions. "No, no, Yuffie. It's alright."

The younger girl groaned in a sort of disappointment. She had somewhat, in the back of her mind, wished that Aerith had given her the go-ahead on the kicking. And Axel, though he was again remaining quite, had also thought it would be a good idea. Especially in the state that he had been put in. But, then again, two wrongs wouldn't make a right... Or had two wrongs already not made a right? Or did the punch count as self-defence? The red-head had a think on this, but he didn't have long, as the older girl began to approach him.

"You're injured, aren't you?" She asked.

Yuffie dashed to his side, and gave him a hard (unnecessary, unwanted) pat on the back.

"This is Axel! He 'thinks'." She professed to the brunette. "But you know what, he doesn't think I'm a great ninja! Can you believe it!?"

Aerith chuckled, with a sort of playful sarcasm. "No, no I can't!"

After this, she reached out for the young man's face, removing his hands and the shirt from it (though at first he was slightly reluctant, wondering what she was actually doing). His nose, lips, chin, neck and the areas of skin between were coated with a layer of blood that had partially dried after being pressed with the material. The bridge of his nose was a little off-centre; crooked to the side. There was a bruise, and light pink colour where he had been hit.

"Ick!!" Yuffie cried, hopping backwards and crinkling her face.

"Hmm, it doesn't look too bad. Yuffie, why don't you go get some water and a cloth? I think there's some across the street."

"Getting rid of me already!?" The younger girl gasped and moaned. "Aww, c'mon!"

"Shut yer yapper and do as you're Goddamn told!!" The man at the computer ordered.

She groaned and whined a couple of incoherent things at each of the members of the room, and then eventually dragged herself outside. The door shut once more.

"Relax."

Aerith raised her hands, and rested both her palms, one on top of the other, over the top half of Axel's face, very carefully, so as not to hurt him. He didn't exactly appreciate her hands on him like that, but he had realised that she was going to heal his injury.

She inhaled, emitting a warm corona of light from her palms as she begun to breathe out. The red-head felt no pain, but he did feel his nose moving. Back into place, no less. It still stung a little, when the light had faded and she had removed her hands. But in less than ten seconds, she had definitely fixed it. Impressive.

"There."

He brushed his fingers against his nose when she had leaned back. Everything there was back in place and had healed well. He looked towards the young woman, whom was still smiling. He wondered how she could keep that smile on her face for so long. Was she constantly happy? Why?

If there was one thing he certainly didn't like, based off of his first impressions of this group of people, it was how many questions they raised. In both ways.

"Thanks." He shifted, but tried to sound as grateful as he could as uncomfortable as he felt.

"So, what happened? To your nose, I mean." The brunette enquired.

Another question. Why the hell were these people so interested in him anyway? Why did this girl care about what happened to him?

"...Didn't he tell you?" He mumbled in response.

Aerith didn't quite understand what the red-head meant at first, but then she realised whom the 'he' that he spoke of was. She shook her head at a varied pace.

"He broke it. Smacked me in the face." He told her, half expecting her response.

She gasped silently, her eyes widening. Her smile clearly disappeared _then_. It took a while after this for her to form a sentence, but it was a pretty valid one.

"Well... What did you do to make him hit you?"

That was the question he was dreading. These people were clearly Vexen's (new) friends. And they were interrogating him. They wanted to know all the details. Who Axel was. Why he was here. Why their friend broke his nose. What he did to piss him off in the first place...

...And soon, they'd know everything. They'd know what he did to him. They'd know. And he knew they wouldn't like it...

"I grabbed his arm, so he turned 'round and punched me." He told her after a momentary pause. That was the truth... Sort of. He wasn't lying to her, he was just being lax with the details.

Aerith's look of shock turned to one of concern.

"If you're really bothered, I deserved it." Axel continued, before she brought up any more questions. He had hoped to eliminate them with what he was telling her. "I didn't exactly like it, but, yeah. I had it coming."

And then, she spoke the exact words he didn't want to hear, "...Why?"

He shifted again, this time heavily. He tried to make it obvious to her that he wasn't exactly comfortable with answering.

"Do you really want to know?" He spoke in a tone that sounded as if he were trying to put her off. Which – of course – he was. "I mean... He might have already told you anyway..."

For a short amount of time, the brunette sat in thought. She tried to think back on every conversation that she ever had with the blonde man about himself, about his past. And since those conversations were rare, she had trouble recalling them. But a few key points were quite clear in her memory.

"Were you... From the Organization, too?"

"...Yeah." He shrugged unenthusiastically.

"And... What was your name, again?"

"...Axel... Got it memorised?" Came another phrase that lacked any enthusiasm. It almost sounded like those words didn't belong in his mouth, but she herself didn't know any difference. He was also quite cautious. If she already knew, he was just speeding up the inevitable. She probably knew what he did from just that.

Again, he expected her to say what she did, after she had thought about it for a little longer. However, he didn't expect her to speak to him in the tone that she did. It all came down to what Vexen had told her, but... He expected her to be angry. He thought she might yell. He thought she might get upset. He thought she might even slap him. Or kick him. Or throw something at him. Or break his nose. Again.

But no. She didn't do any of those things...

"You're lucky, you know. It's not everyday someone gets the chance to apologise to someone they've killed."

...She did, however, know. She obviously knew everything about it. _Great. _She probably thought that he was a homicidal maniac. And a traitor. And whatever else Vexen had told her. Which was undoubtedly everything.

He assumed that she was pressing that as a hint. Aerith wanted him to apologise. And that – for one – was something he really, really wished he didn't ever have to do.

Axel sighed, leaning forward, resting on his legs with his head in his hands. "Yeah. See, there's a problem with that..."

The brunette bent down towards him. "You don't think he'd accept it?"

"Not a chance." He told her in an oddly bland tone.

She stood straight again, and then walked gracefully away from him, towards the small window on the nearby wall. When deciding to speak again, she had also decided to change the subject. A little.

"So, if you're from the Organization, you must know a girl called Larxene, as well, then."

Axel's heart – now that it was safely in his chest, as much as he certainly wished it still wasn't at times like that – sank. Deep.

_Oh. God. No._

He knew where this was going... As if things couldn't get any worse for him.

"Yeah. And I wish I didn't." He stated.

"...Oh..."

The young woman, surprised by his words, turned back to face him, her skirt fanning out as she did so.

"Larxene is ill at the moment, you know? Really ill. She caught the Balfu disease from when she visited the Deep Jungle."

"...That's _tragic_." The red-head said, quite sarcastically, but stuck in his mind were the words he actually wanted to say, _'Like I care, that bitch always hated me.'_

"Balfu is normally fatal. There's no common cure for it. But, you know, there is one thing that can cure it. And that's Wellspring water." She explained.

_'Wellspring water?' _It didn't take long for Axel to remember it, even if he wasn't paying much notice to the events earlier on. The contents of the bottle that Vexen had given to that old man earlier on.

Aerith continued, thinking that the red-head was interested. "Wellspring water can cure any sort of illness or disease. It's rare, and the only source that we know of at the moment is one in Twilight Town. It's also heavily guarded, because of it's value. Merlin the Wizard had to give Vexen a permit so that they'd let him have some."

It was at that point that she realised he was looking very blankly at the wooden floorboards, not giving her even the slightest bit of attention.

"Are you even listening?" She asked sharply (but in her own sort of manner).

Vexen was here and probably wasn't going to ever give him the time of day. Larxene was here and would certainly never, ever give him the time of day. Axel couldn't help but think he had fallen at the first hurdle. Fallen. Hard. He was so close – there were two members of the Thirteenth Order, in that very world, and they'd never help him. Never. His mission had only just started, and was already failing.

The brunette crossed her arms. "Hmm. Alright then."

All of a sudden, Yuffie came bounding back in, a cloth in one hand and a bowl of water (half of which she spilt upon entering) in the other.

"Whoooa-Oooof!" She yelped, stumbling through the doorway. Once recuperated, she handed the items she was carrying to Aerith. "Gottit!"

The older girl proceeded to dip the cloth in the temped water, and then passed it over to Axel. "Here. There's still blood on your face from before."

He begun to wipe it off as soon as he received the bowl. The brunette watched him for a couple of seconds, then turned to the younger girl.

"Axel knows Larxene, too, you know." She said.

Yuffie beamed. "Really? Wow! You think she'll be glad to see you?"

"No." The red-head scoffed, mostly focusing on wiping his face more than answering.

Her grin completely reversed. "Aww..."

"Did you see her? Is it working?" Enquired Aerith.

"Nope. I didn't go upstairs. Dunno if the water's doing her any good or not." She shrugged.

"Merlin knows what he's doing... But, still, we can only hope."

The red-head laughed mentally. He could hardly believe what was happening. Larxene had contracted a fatal disease, and they actually wanted her to get better? Wasn't she causing them complete and utter hell by merely gracing them with her presence? But then, he thought hard about it. He wasn't so sure at that moment that the Larxene they were talking about was the same one that he knew from before. He wasn't so sure he was the same Axel, either...

"They still over there?" The man at the computers asked aloud, taking a break from his work once again. "Vexen's got work to do, y'know."

The brunette exhaled. "Cid, he just got back. Can't it wait until tomorrow?"

"Dammit, woman! No it can't! Stop actin' like his mother!"

"I'm not!" She said in a defensive manner.

_'Work?' _Axel enquired to himself.

"Yeah, _sure_." The man's voice dripped with sarcasm as he rolled his eyes. "And'ya don't act like Leon's, or Cloud's either!"

"Cut it out, Gramps!" Yuffie told him aggressively, making violent hand gestures to match her tone of voice. "Unlike you, just sitting on your ass monitoring the town – even though nothing actually ever _happens any more_ – Rissy actually gives a damn about other people!"

"Peh, and I guess you do, too!?" Asked Cid, in a counter-attack.

"_Gawd_, at least I'm not a vegetable sat there all day!" She spat.

"Please, stop it." Aerith said, trying to cease the banter before it gave her a headache. She hated it when these two got going...

...However, it didn't stop. They continued at that point to argue, talking at the same time and hence then yelling over each other. The noise created was dreadful, and certainly the brunette was not at all happy. Axel, however, wasn't really bothered about what was happening. A couple more wipes and he decided that he was done. He placed the bowl with the bloodstained cloth in it on the table behind him and stood up from his seat.

"Thanks for your help." He said to the older girl. "And, about Vexen. I'm sorry."

The red-head picked up his belongings (he dropped them beside the chair when the teenager had sat him down). He began to walk away, when Aerith quickly stood in front of him, intent on blocking his way.

"Where are you going?" She asked in a sort of playful way, even though she knew well that the matter at hand was, in fact, quite serious.

"He obviously doesn't want me here." He bluntly replied.

"You didn't even try to apologise..." The brunette put her hands on her waist, and looked up at him with volition. She was pushing it on him again.

Axel stopped in his tracks. In both thought and physical movement. The young woman was staring at him with a meaningful glint in her dark green eyes. He had only met her less than twenty minutes ago, but already he knew that she wasn't going to ever let him leave until he had apologised to her friend for what he'd done.

The room had fallen silent. Yuffie and Cid had shut their mouths and opened their ears onto the other conversation. The red-head frowned, and glanced between them, then Aerith, then each of them again. Still, he said nothing.

The brunette moved slightly, only to close her thick eyelashes and put her knuckles to her lips in thought.

"Hmm... Let me talk to him about it. Okay?"

She didn't even let him reply; she moved towards the door before she had even finished her sentence. There was no chance for him to say anything – she had already disappeared back outside. And the sound of the door shutting behind her brought back the terrible silence.

"...Well, that's Rissy for you!" The dark haired girl spoke up after quite a while. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it!"

_'Used to it?' _Axel suddenly felt like he'd somehow signed his life away to these people. This wasn't what was meant to happen. Not at all. But he bit back any comments about it, and instead turned to Yuffie and asked, "Just... Who are you?"

"Isn't it obvious? We're the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee!" She giggled, before her expression changed to one of deep thought, and she scratched at the back of her neck. "Though, now that the Heartless have gone, there's not much to restore any more. The town is actually expanding. Quickly."

"We mostly work on Gummi Ships and the transit system now'days." Cid explained. "Least we would be if that damned blonde woman wasn't diseased!"

The girl groaned, turning at a slow pace towards the man at the computers and glaring at him, before then turning back in the same way again.

"Yeah, we can't do much 'til Larxie's better." She continued. "Did Rissy tell you about her?"

Axel had to think over whom she was talking about. It was clear that, again, he wasn't paying much attention before. "'Rissy'?"

"Oh, Rissy is Aerith. The girl who just left." She told him.

To this, he nodded once.

"Right, so, you know about the Balfu?"

And again.

"Oh, okay. Well, do you know about what she does?"

_'She pisses people off for fun.' _He was going to reply, but he remained silent, and this time shook his head.

Yuffie, for some reason, looked excited. "Okay! See, Vexie has this _awesome_ Gummi Ship, and he can't get far without Larxie on navigations, so, that's why Cid's kinda edgy at the moment since they're not able to do any work and..."

Long before she was going to, Cid noticed that Axel had a vacant expression that showed she was leaving out enough details to completely confuse him.

"He doesn't have a fuckin' clue what yer talkin' about!" He called over.

After hearing this, the teen took a good look at the red-head's face, and then shifted in an awkward manner.

"Oooohhhh, sorry. Well, see, Vexie and Larxie work for Cid over there, who works in Gummi Ships – though, not very _hard_, of course; but he still complains when they're not working!"

Said man grunted in response loud enough so she could hear it.

"Larxie handles navigations, so, Vexie can't get very far without her. Pretty weird, huh?"

The red-head sort of shrugged and nodded at the same time. To this, the girl stuck her bottom lip out.

"Ehh, you're no fun!"

"It took that long to figure out?" He said.

This only caused her lip to protrude further.

"Aw, man!"

"Y'know, he prob'ly doesn't give a damn." Cid told her. "I reckon he doesn't like either of 'em."

Yuffie gasped, "Wh-Whaa?"

"That's true. I don't really." Confirmed Axel.

The girl watched with a feeling and expression of worry as he grabbed a hold of his things again, and approached the front door in a slump. He was getting sick of her, especially, already. He didn't think he could stay there, no matter if Vexen and Larxene were doing so. Not that they got along too well in the first place, but after what had happened earlier on, his opinion of the blonde man had decreased enough for him to really not like him. And he never liked the woman in the slightest. And he was well aware that they both despised him to the core. After all, Vexen was reluctant at first, but _did_ smack his face in. He didn't even want to think about what Larxene would do if she saw him.

"Thanks for your help, anyway." He said in an otherwise unfeeling tone, turning the latch.

Yuffie wanted to stop him, but couldn't move. After stumbling a couple of times in an attempt to hold him back, she glanced desperately over at Cid, whom just gestured a heavy shrug of his shoulders and shook his head. Luckily, when Axel stood in the doorway, ready to make his departure, he froze completely whilst holding the door wide open.

"And, where do you think _you're_ going?"

Like the dark haired girl, he was glued to the spot – but unlike her, he was held there by a wide, irritated pair of emerald eyes.

* * *

_A/N: I don't think it's funny that I wrote this in about two days. I feel like I rushed it. But honestly, I tried my best. I know my story isn't perfect, but I try to include description and feelings, as well as the speech; I do my best to keep as in-character as I can, and I strive for practically flawless spelling and grammar. I don't mean to boast, but I have seen worse stories than my own out there. Hey, at least it's not a pile of Mary-Sue pig slop, huh? Lol. Or, in my case, Gary-Stu, I suppose. _

_Well, a note about Balfu, it's not from KH or FF, Luthien Sky and I just made it up as a disease. From the Deep Jungle. Yuh-huh. Sounds stupid, but I certainly wouldn't like to get it! Poor Larxie._

_Oh, yeah, and about 'Rissy'. Aerith was mistranslated into English for FF7 as 'Aeris', I'm sure you probably know that (you might not, though, so I'm telling you now). And, as it turns out, Aerith – in Japanese – is 'Earisu', pronounced 'Air-riss-oo'. Hence the mistranslation. I'm still not sure how it's pronounced in English, but I think Rissy is quite a sweet nickname. Also, Aerith is a Cetra (Ancient), so her curative spells are incredibly effective in comparison to the regular ones. Great Gospel, anyone? So I figure her spells would be enough to heal broken bones. Bit like Orihime in Bleach, but without the 'reversing' crap._

_I originally wrote this before actually reading the reviews for chapter two. (But I'm editing this after doing so). That's how fast I wrote it. Geeze. Still, I think I'm happy with it. Plus, the chapters aren't exactly riveting or incredibly long themselves, so... Yeah. Not that hard to write to be honest._

_I'm thinking of giving Axel a very Reno-ish persona from this point on. They're similar enough as it is. As for Larxene, it's very difficult to think of how she'd act with a heart. Vexen is, of course, unchanged from before; he's cold, and I think that just about sums it up. My first thoughts for Larxene were to give her – of course – her regular personality, but to twist it with Millenia's (from Grandia II). They're both the sadistic bitch type (but Larx is a lot more callous, Millenia starts out EXACTLY like her but then begins to develop feelings and softens up, plus she's more flirtatious, but they're otherwise very similar.)_

_To write this chapter, I listened to the Kaiser Chiefs and a compilation album called 'Cigarettes and Alcohol', which has some f'awesome songs on it. They're both better inspiration than Basement Jaxx! Lol._

_Well, I think I'm done. Hopefully that's it. I can't think of anything else, so, if I've forgotten something, I'll put it at the start of the next chapter._

_Don't forget – every time you read without leaving a review, LuSky kills a Dreamhare! PLEASE THINK OF THE CUTE LITTLE DREAMHARES!!!_

_TTFN! Luffles you!_

_**Nweezle**_


	4. Chapter Four

**Undying Hearts:  
****The Revenant Saga**

_A/N: Started before even uploading chapter three._

_Oh, yeah, and I realise now that after another run around Radiant Garden on the game I made a couple of errors in the settings. Especially Merlin's House. But I had to base it off memory, more than anything. I'm going to be honest with you, until recently when I moved back in with my family I didn't have access to a PS2. Even now that I'm back home and can use my sisters' platform, I don't have my own copy of KH2. The only one I have access to is Lusky's, which I'm borrowing at the moment whilst she borrows my CoM. They errors aren't too huge, though. Plus, things will have changed after a year of no Heartless. So I think we're okay._

_Please note that I totally rip off a scene KH2 early in this chapter. You'll see. _

_Yeah, and, the violence picks up a little from here, too. Or, you know, it starts here, altogether. I should think this is about where Chapter One of Lusky's UH:luc begins. Oh, yeah, Lusky is Luthien Sky. She changed her pen name. But she's having a bit of trouble with her name change, as it doesn't seem to be appearing correctly in some listings. So, her user ID is 1209269, in case you can't find her._

_Before I forget, thanks to all the reviewers that I didn't reply to for the past chapters: **Xentith**, **Roxas Stalker** and **lege et lacrima**. Also, cheers for the fave from **Phoenix Helix**, and the alerts from **Canderjack **and **Bob the Almighty**. Even though I haven't recieved feedback from you three, I hope you're enjoying this!_

_Now, on with the story._

* * *

**Chapter Four**

Her gaze was still fixed on him as she walked in, forcing him to shuffle back inside at the same time.

"Hmph. Leaving so soon, were you?" Aerith asked. And boy, did she look pissed about it.

Axel shifted. He didn't respond, but he appeared to be taken aback by the young woman's appearance. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, to her – but decided it wasn't a good idea, especially since Vexen was stood right behind her; following her in. He'd already drawn the conclusion a while back that the blonde man had formed a trusting relationship with her, and he was slightly concerned that if he said anything to her whilst he was there, he might attempt to do worse than break his nose. Attempt being the key word. He only got him the first time because he caught him off guard... And it lead him to wonder if that was the same situation two years ago.

The only noise in the room was the sound of boots and shoes creaking on the floorboards. Otherwise, there was quite an awkward feeling about – the same sort of unpleasant awkwardness that had been around when Axel and Vexen were both in the room before. They weren't looking at each other. In fact, they were trying as hard as they could not to. When Aerith realised this, she sighed heavily. She grasped the blonde's right arm, pulled him with all the strength she could muster a couple of steps nearer to the red-head, so that he was facing him directly, and then stood beside both of them. Next, she reached out for the younger man's right arm, which, due to his lack of willingness, seemed very heavy. Her next action was the most uncomfortable of all – the brunette collected their hands together in a forced handshake, held in place by her own palms that were definitely _not_ going to let go.

She smiled, and looked between both of them. Vexen scowled. Axel was already frowning. She could feel the tension in the air and in their hands.

"Is there something you'd like to say?" She enquired of the red-head, the almost eternal sweetness of her face and tone of voice beginning to make him feel slightly sick. Damn, this woman was pushy. He wondered how the hell Vexen had coped with her for however long he'd been hanging around this 'Restoration Committee'.

The younger man neutralised his expression, and looked upwards at his counterpart. He was staring down at him with a heavy frown. Obviously he wasn't enjoying this either. Then again, to the best of his knowledge, there wasn't much that he did enjoy.

Both of them began to feel like they were small children whom had fallen out, and Aerith was the responsible adult – the mother, the older sister, the aunt, the teacher – whom was trying to have them make peace with each other. Without really thinking it over, Axel did the naïve thing of breaking the eye contact, lolling his head to the side and mumbling so quietly and involuntarily that if the room wasn't silent, he wouldn't have been heard. "Sorry."

Vexen instantly looked at the young woman.

"How did I know that you would fail to get rid of him?"

Her lips and eyebrows inverted.

"Please don't be like that." She pined. "He really wants you to accept his apology. Don't you?"

When he realised that question was aimed at him, the red-head stirred a little. He bit the inside of his lip, and told the brunette, honestly, "Look. I don't care either way. I just need him to hear me out, and I'll do whatever the hell it takes."

His counterpart stared at him with a mix of uncertainty and disbelief.

"Hear you out? What for?" Aerith asked.

To Axel she seemed to be poking her nose in business that didn't concern her. But if the only way to actually get through to Vexen was through her, then he had little choice.

"Xemnas sent me here. He wants to regroup the Organization." He said, looking straight at the blonde. "That's what I wanted to tell you about. Shame it took so long, but I guess you're still as ignorant as ever."

Xemnas, regrouping the Organization? And using Axel as his pawn? The older man humphed, and decided after a moment or two of thinking it over that he'd heard enough of the matter to draw the line at it being absurd. And that was putting the red-head's sneering comment aside.

"I have no desire to go back there." He replied sharply.

His answer came as a surprise, but the younger man's expression didn't flinch.

"And... Nor should you. You would never do anything of the sort. Willingly." He continued after a short pause. "What does Xemnas have in it for you?"

He didn't reply straight away. The red-head looked downwards, and only rose up again when he thought of what to say. "Roxas."

Vexen sighed through his nose. Of the list of things he was expecting him to say, that was number one.

"He told me I could see Roxas again."

"...Why am I not surprised?" The blonde asked.

Axel inhaled. "'Cause you know damn well that everything I ever did was for him, don't you?"

Aerith felt the tension in their linked hands swell. Yet another pause followed. Though he had ordered her to get rid of him, the older man certainly knew that the brunette wouldn't kick his 'old acquaintance' out. She would never do anything of the sort. But it was only a façade to begin with, and this had worked out exactly as he had planned. Now that his injury was healed, the pang of guilt he had felt before had gone, and he was back to his original idea. For breaking his nose, especially after then having it healed, was never going to be enough. He wanted his _real_ revenge. He wanted it, whatever it took.

"Yes. I do know." He said, after which he let another period of silence be cast over them whilst he thought over what to say next. A little longer, and he opened his mouth to ask for the young woman's attention, but he was stopped abruptly.

Before he could speak, there was a scream.

A scream. Outside. A blood-curdling scream. Followed by another. And another. And another...

...Until there were many screams from many different voices. Already the attention of everyone in the room had been caught. Everything and everyone had seemed to freeze as the noise got louder, except for Yuffie, whom rushed out of the door before anyone else could move an inch.

She left the door wide open, and due to the girl's very agile speed, it only took a few moments – in which the others were actually able to process what was going on – before she stumbled back inside.

"Uh-oh... Guys... Get... Get out here!!" She flailed about, yelling in an urgent tone.

"What's wrong!?" Aerith asked, breaking her grip on the mens' hands and making her way towards the younger girl, whom had darted back outside.

Axel and Vexen's forced hold lasted just half a second after she had let go. Once she had done so, they tore it apart brusquely.

"Heartless, Heartless, _HEARTLESS_!!!" The dark haired girl yelped from outside.

"H-Heartless!? Whut!?" Cid shouted, proceeding to tap into his computer as fast as he could. A few of the monitors that were watching the town showed that, indeed, there were people – many people – running from manifesting dark, shadowy creatures. Creatures that were multiplying. Quickly. This was bad. Obviously. He needed to kick the town's defence mechanism into gear before he did anything else.

In a state of unfitting calmness for such a situation, the blonde made his way over to the computer, examining the monitors.

"Why the _hell_ are the Heartless here?"

The other man stopped tapping at the keyboard to angrily slam his fists into it.

"Goddammit, Vexen – how many times do I have to tell ya!?" He yelled. "Kick ass first, ask questions later!!"

His statement went ignored. Almost. "Can you increase the paling over the borough?"

Cid grumbled, but went on to stab at the keys anyway.

"Yeah, the paling's stable over here. I can keep it lastin' for another half hour at most." He said. "Any longer, and the whole system'll fail."

Vexen frowned. "That's all? Half an hour? Dear God, your system is atrocious!"

The man with the goggles groaned aloud, grabbing at his hair in frustration, and then suddenly snapped, jumping out of his seat.

"Are you _SHITTIN_' me!? Yer here criticisin' the system when the damn town's under attack!? Git yer effeminate ass outta that door, now!!" He roared at him, pointing almost in desperation to the open doorway.

_'Effeminate'_? That would have been an unwise choice of words were there not better things to be done. He obeyed (well, he was going _anyway_), and headed straight across the room and outside.

Yuffie had gone on ahead. In the time that he had spent inside, she had already drawn her weapon and departed for the station. Aerith was still stood in the street, and Axel had dropped his possessions inside and joined her. There were still many unnerving cries coming from the world's main area.

"Hopefully, Leon and the others should be around the top end of town." The brunette said, the fact that she was trying to stay as calm as possible evident in her voice. "Yuffie went there."

"We have no more than half an hour until the paling falls over the borough." Vexen told her. "I very much doubt there is enough time to vanquish every single Heartless. And even if we do, there is certainly no guarantee that they shan't respawn."

He didn't realise of course that his words were only making the young woman's anxiety worse. She was, in fact, terrified. After so long, thinking that the Heartless had disappeared for good, thinking that they would never return, thinking that her home was finally safe...

This time, her voice really shook. "What... Do we do?"

The blonde breathed in deep as he thought it over. But, as he thought, time was ticking away. Time that they simply didn't have.

"Man, oh man..." Axel all but groaned.

His voice caught the other two out of their thought patterns.

"Of all people, Vexen, _you_ should know what to do!" He said with a knavish grin. "If you're on a time limit, don't wait, act!"

His counterpart gave him a very blank look. "Have you missed the point entirely? We have no time to waste _acting_."

"Oh, sure, I get that. 'Course, the more you stand here talking it over, the less time you have. Right?"

His blank look changed to a confused one.

"Are you saying that we should just go ahead and fight?" Aerith enquired.

"Not exactly. One thing you learn from being a Nobody – where there's Heartless, there's always something behind 'em."

Vexen folded his arms. "Something or someone. On most occasions the latter."

"Bingo." The red-head confirmed.

The brunette asked in a forlorn tone, "Someone released the Heartless here?"

"Yeah. Now, who it is – that's the real mystery." He said.

"And we can leave that open, for now. As the paling covers the entire borough, Heartless cannot pass easily between the outskirts of the castle and the main part of town." Explained the blonde. "Which inevitably means that if there are Heartless on the outskirts, whatever is causing them must be able to access both sides of the paling, though cannot override it completely."

The young woman thought this over as fast as she could.

"Something that can access the whole town... Like... Ansem's computer?"

He nodded once in affirmation.

Axel grinned again. "And there's me thinking you'd lost your touch..."

"...And there's me thinking you'd gained half a brain." Vexen said dryly.

The red-head immediately frowned, and hence changed the subject. "Whatever. Aren't we on a time limit here?"

"Are you coming with us?" Aerith asked in an (almost) endearing tone.

"Erm... Yeah. Sure." He replied with a sharp nod, before looking over at the blonde and narrowing his eyes. "Unless, of course, _someone _has a problem with that."

Vexen sighed aloud. "Do you honestly think there's time for me to have a problem with it?"

The younger man responded by silently putting his hands up in a defensive manner and shaking his head. To this, his counterpart wandered at a quick pace off down the street. He was heading in the direction of the bailey, which would lead to the outskirts of Radiant Garden. Then realising that they should have been following, the brunette ran after him. Finally, Axel was left to catch up himself.

Just as they were completely clear of the borough, the front door of the two-storey house opened. The old man from before – Merlin the Wizard – trotted outside and across the street to the other house as fast as he possibly could.

"I say! What on Earth is all that racket!?" He enquired to the only person left in the room.

Cid, back at the computer, growled again in exasperation. After the defence mechanism had been inactive for so long, he had to reset it all again. And as fast as his fingers (and frustrations) would possibly let him. "What's it usually!? It's the Goddamn Heartless, that's what!!"

"The Heartless!? Really!?" Merlin gasped, peering towards the monitors.

"Uhh, no, I'm just kiddin'..." The man with the goggles scowled with sarcasm. "Of course it's the frickin' Heartless!!"

"My, this is certainly disasterous!" The wizard said with urgency, poking his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He continued to focus in to the monitors as best a he could; his eyesight was quite fickle when it came to these computer screens. And it didn't help that there was a minor interference every so often on them. On a side note, he didn't quite know why Cid had installed them in his house in the first place – let alone continually modify them. He was pretty sure that there was a new screen up at least every three months, which lead him to wonder if he'd ever have any space left in his house by the end of the following year. Even after another few moments, he couldn't get a clear view of the small images that were projected, but by then, he had realised something, and jolted. "Oh! Larxene!"

Cid shook his head before he had a chance to scuttle off back across the street. "The paling's stable over this area. She ain't gonna get hurt. 'Least not for another half hour."

"A-And, when it falls, what are we to do then?" The old man stuttered. "Surely the town's defence system isn't enough?"

The man at the computers grunted. "Yer actin' like there's never been Heartless here before! No, it ain't gonna be enough, 'specially at this rate, after being inactive for so long."

He tapped in a couple more commands, but the defence mechanism was still unresponsive across the other areas of town; continuing to warm up. In addition to which, the fact that the paling was completely steady over the borough was making the process even slower. Merlin sighed quietly. Like Aerith, like the others, he was so sure that the Heartless had been driven from that world. That world, at least. Cid was fretting and typing at an incredible speed for another couple of seconds, before he glanced up at one of the higher monitors and completely halted.

"Huh?"

He looked in closer. The screen was monitoring the exterior of the Gummi Ship Station. He thought, just for a second, that his eyes were deceiving him, but there, surrounded by a large group of the spindly black beings, were some more-than-familiar faces. His question of surprise had already caught the wizard's attention again, and he was trying once again to get a clear image of what the other man was looking at. Though he now realised that the squirmy black dots were the Heartless, he didn't quite get whom the people faced with combat against them were. Not until he was absolutely certain that the constant glints of metal against the darkness followed by the rising magenta-pink lights were the Keyblades obliterating their way through the Heartless.

Cid leaned back, a grin both of gratification and relief pasted on his face. "Well, would'ya look at that!"

* * *

It was exactly as they had predicted.

From where they stood in the cove at the top of the bailey, the vast blue land formations of the Great Maw that stretched out towards the horizon where the achromatic skies met the land were beginning to fill with the Heartless. The area beyond the borough – from the bailey to the castle – had still been untouched during the 'restoration'. Most of the rebuilding (and building) had taken place in the top end of the town. The castle grounds were still in ruins, just as they were before, and from the direction the dark creatures were headed in – that appeared to be where they were emerging from.

Leaving the other two stood in said place at the top of the bailey, Vexen walked away in the direction of the steps that lead down to the restoration site. They were so focused on the Heartless below that neither of them realised he had left until he spoke up, with bitterness. "Axel."

The red-head pivoted away from the view after hearing his name, yet said nothing. Nor did the blonde say anything. The only sounds were the occasional swirls of darkness and clinking of armour that came from the particular Heartless below. He stood still, with his back to the other two, for a couple more seconds. Then, he bent his arm upwards, bringing his hand to this side of his head. Just from this gesture, after having seen it enough times, Axel knew what he was doing. He then outstretched his arm to the side, forming a light mist of dry ice. This resonated into a pale light, from which emerged his shield.

His younger counterpart shifted forward at a steady pace. His expression was unchanged. But he now knew that it wasn't only him. It was still possible for the weapon and element of a former Nobody to be summoned; at least, he wasn't the only one. He begun to take deep breaths, and raised his hands slightly out to the side, clenching and releasing his fists in a consecutive rhythm. A final exhale and a final opening of his hands and the familiar discs of fire appeared beneath his palms. On impulse, he caught them just as they had developed into chakarams.

He looked upwards, and saw that the blonde had turned around and was staring – no, more accurately, glaring – at his weapons. Axel wasn't used to standing perfectly still when brandishing them, but for that moment, he had to be. He knew why his gaze was fixed on them, and he was also pretty sure that he wasn't entirely willing for them to be out in the first place. Luckily (well, sort of), it wasn't long until Vexen moved his glare up to the red-head's face.

"Do me a favour and stay where I can keep my eye on you. It should be less trouble that way."

He turned again, but this time he dashed off at an incredible pace down the steps once his back was on the other two. Consequently, Aerith followed him as fast as her legs would allow her to move. Once they were both down the the steps and out of Axel's sight, the red-head smeared over his plain expression with a cattish grin.

"For us both..."

He gave his weapons a quick twirl, before regaining a tight grip on them. And then, he charged at full speed after the other two.

* * *

_A/N: If you can guess where those last few lines are from you can have an e-cookie. For being awesome._

_I believe this chapter is shorter than chapter three, but longer than chapters one and two. Chapter five will probably be quite long, longer than all of the others so far. In my head, it looks that way, at least._

_And, erm, yeah! The pace is starting to pick up here at least. Before the next chapter, **Lusky** should have **Undying Hearts: The Lucid Saga**, which runs parallel to this story, uploaded. Her story will, of course, follow the Keybearers mentioned. Think of her story as KH:CoM, whereas mine is CoM: Reverse/Rebirth. Even though mine has started first. As I've probably told you, my only real worries are still Axel's character, which I actually think is getting better now, and the rating. I'm keeping it at T because if I change to M, this story won't appear in the main listings. It's not like it's a lemon, anyway! I'm pretty sure all peeps that are 13 and above will know all the naughty words that are used anyway. Also, I think I might be making Cid a little harsh, so I'll tone him down a bit in the next few chapters._

_Oh, and I heard just today that Lusky won't be uploading UH:luc for a while. She has college and stuff; honestly this year at college is really important for her. I'll be helping as much as I can, but that story will be under her account. But if you put her on alerts (her ID is at the start of the chapter), or just keep up-to-date with this story, you'll know when her fic has begun. As for me, I'm on part-time work at the moment (I'm a lazy slob, but the restaurant I worked in went out of buisness so I'm out of a real job to be honest), so I've plenty of free time. Depending on how fast I finish chapter five, which at this rate might be in time, I may upload it on December 4th, aka. 12/4, just to be awesome. Hehehe._

_And, erm, as usual, please review! The dead Dreamhare smell is getting pretty bad..._

_So, until chapter five!_

_Luffles you lots, readers!_

_**Nweezle**_


	5. Chapter Five

**Undying Hearts:  
****The Revenant Saga**

_A/N: I haven't read the reviews (if there are any) for chapter four yet (information correct at time of print). But I said I'd finish this by Thursday, aka. 12/4._

_Also, I'm thinking of having chapter titles, instead of just calling them 'chapter one' or 'chapter three' or whatever. But in terms of naming, creativity isn't my strongest subject, nor is it Lusky's, which is why our titles for these fics are so crap! But, we'll get to that if I decide to._

_And, erm, yeah! FFnet has a problem with the OpenOffice formatting. Which is quite strange, since it's the recommended processor. Line breaks mainly; they don't appear when I upload. So, if you see 'kkk' anywhere, that's where I have to put the line breaks when I go back to edit on the actual site later. Confused? Maybe. But I know how to sort the problem out, so I think we're okay._

_So, if this actually is up on the date I said it would be, and you're reading it that very day, happy 12/4!_

_Now, onwards with the story!_

_P.S. I think this is my favourite chapter so far. Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter Five**

It may have been because of the illness affecting her senses, but she had to admit the Wellspring water had a very distinct, yet not necessarily bad, taste. Though that was to be expected, she thought; the crap was glowing, after all. At least it tasted better than regular Potions. It lingered in her mouth for a while, before she had, with effort, on account of the illness, swallowed enough times to clear away most of the flavour.

The large bottle was still glowing in the small room's dim light on her bedside table, as was the small cup she had drank it from. She had managed to down three cups full of the liquid. Merlin had told her that was the correct amount to cure the illness. He had also told her that the water would take effect in two or three hours, and that just to be sure, she needed to rest in bed until the next day. But that was unlikely. After the wizard had entered and Aerith had left (thankfully, seeing as she had been constantly at her bedside taking care of her for the past few days with her healing and sleeping spells keeping her in a stable condition until the water arrived, and _that_ much of the brunette wasn't exactly to her liking), she couldn't seem to rest much. Either the remedy was taking effect very quickly, or just getting rid of Aerith had completely cured it.

Or perhaps she just couldn't get back to sleep, with all the unusual screaming and other noise that had been going on outside. She wasn't used to lying about for so long anyway. And she certainly hadn't enjoyed it.

Merlin had just left, shortly after the ruckus had started. He looked as if he didn't want to leave her on her own, having no clue what all the corruption was about, but he scurried off across the street anyway. Not that she really cared. After all, it was pretty much the first time she'd been alone for the past few days. And they had all been so fussy over her ever since she was diagnosed with the Balfu. She hated that more than the sickness that the disease created itself.

After twisting over in her bed again, the blonde looked towards the large glass bottle. Even after three cups, the sky-blue contents looked untouched. The wizard must have requested more than necessary. He could keep it stored away with his other tinctures and tonics, for use another time. When he decided to come back and move it, that was. Next, she turned back again to face the window. Her curtains were drawn, blocking out most of the daylight, though there was a slight split where the curtains were supposed to meet, allowing a thin slither of light seep across the room. When she had confirmed with herself that she was definitely _not _going back to sleep, despite what she had been told – especially with all that commotion going on outside – she pushed off the warm bedsheets and slid out into the cold. Her bare feet pattered slowly across the wooden floorboards as she approached the window. Her intention was to see what all the chaos was about, however, her view of the borough, let alone the rest of Radiant Garden, was limited; when she pulled a curtain open, she saw nothing but the empty streets and the other houses of the surrounding area, and the thick stone wall that ran along the edge of the borough leading to the bailey. Even after looking very close for a while longer, there was nothing visible from her position, only audible. All the turmoil must have been coming from the top end of town. At least, that was her guess, judging by the direction of the shouts and screams.

Her skin tone, among other things, was unusually sallow, though now it was beginning to regain colour. Even after so much sleep that had been crammed into her body clock, her eyes were heavy and worn with dark rings; the probable cause being the lack of energy that came with the Balfu. They ached when she stepped away from the windowsill and looked down towards her left hand, which she opened out flat. Despite her energy levels there was still just enough in her to focus into her palm, and she watched intently as short, sharp flickers of electricity buzzed and crackled from it.

It was too bad that she had to miss out, due to her illness. She didn't know what was going on out there, but to her, it certainly sounded interesting.

* * *

"(huff) ...Hey...! (puff) ...Guys...! (wheeze) Wait... Wait up! (pant)..."

Aerith could call out for them all she wanted, but at the end of the day, her speed against their speed meant that they were already too far in front to hear her plead. Vexen had been out of her sight since he left the bailey, and just as she had headed down the steps of said place, Axel shot past her and jumped straight down to the lower area, completely missing the steps altogether. By the time she had reached the restoration site, they were far ahead. She felt it quite discourteous to leave her alone with the Heartless running around like that. They were both former members of Organization XIII, the most powerful Nobodies in existence; how on Earth did they expect her to keep up with them? Or, maybe it was because they were former Nobodies that she _had _been left behind. Quite conveniently for her, however, they had cut through all the Heartless in the area. So, alone she ran, at the quickest pace she could force herself into down the empty site. Yet the closer she got to the castle, the louder the distinct sounds of the darkness became.

After slowing to a jog, the young woman was finally able to come to a halt at the postern. The other two were – as she had expected – engaged in combat there, fighting numerous Heartless as they appeared. She took a short while to catch her breath; running to try and keep up with them, as futile as it had proved to be, was an incredibly tiring task. Leaving the men to fend off the dark creatures for just a little longer, she bent over, her chest expanding and deflating in quick, consecutive breaths as she rubbed at her tired thighs through her skirt. But seeing as how the air was still quite crisp, at least the running had warmed her up.

It took another couple of seconds on the sidelines after she had stood up straight to regain her energy a little more. Time her body spent recovering, whilst her mind spent it watching the two ex-Nobodies in a restrained state of awe. In the year or so that she had been in Vexen's company, she had only ever seen him draw his shield and fight once before, in a short scrap in the streets of the borough against Larxene that took place soon after she had appeared in the committee; consisting of a clash of their elemental powers and a couple of thrown (blocked) kunai knives. Luckily it had ended there without anyone getting hurt. That was, of course, the blonde woman had taken a cheap shot and with what were supposed to be means of peace approached her male acquaintance and slapped him across the face. Hard. Yet Aerith had never seen him in a completely serious battle like that one before. Now she knew that his weapon was a means of defence against attacks so that he was once any assault was taken against him he was able to block and counter-attack by summoning stakes of ice and impaling the dark creatures upon them in a fluid motion. Unlike Axel. The red-head's moves were very sharp in comparison, and although she wasn't exactly an expert on the ways of combat, she could see that he depended less on his powers and more on his own speed and strength. Occasionally he would torch a couple of ill-fated Heartless in his vicinity with a stroke of fire – but more often than not, the chakarams he possessed were thrown or merely swung at the creatures with slack movements; most of his momentum was in his loose shoulders. But despite the differences in their tactics, neither of them had very much trouble clearing the postern of Heartless, one after another, despite their numbers in that area.

The amount of the creatures began to decrease soon after. But still they appeared, and there was little time to waste – the paling over the borough would drop in less than twenty-five minutes. Besides, if she just stood around after recovering from the sprint up the restoration site, she felt that she would come across as useless. Even if the other two were so absorbed in battle that they had failed to have noticed that she had appeared on the scene – she had to help them. Somehow. There were a couple of the generic shadow Heartless visible sliding around beneath the frosted ground. Clasping her hands together, as if in prayer, the young woman drew in a breath, and when the shadows emerged and regained their full shape again, she released it, along with her magical energies, when she pushed her right hand out in front of her. A pale chartreuse mist appeared over the dark creatures, and before they could even comprehend (as much as Heartless can actually comprehend) what was going on, they began to jerk and spasm harshly in the haze. The spell lasted a little longer, until they had dissolved back into the darkness; then it faded.

Strangely enough, at that point, the battle was almost over. Axel had come to a complete stop, and he had observed Aerith's magic with a certain curiosity. Like her healing spell she had used to fix his nose, that green mist was unique. It was normally, if not totally impossible for Humes to use any magics except for the Fire, Thunder, Blizzard and Cure elements. To the best of his knowledge, at least. Meanwhile, Vexen, after vanquishing what appeared to be the last remaining Heartless in that area, stood straight with his shield held to his chest as he examined the postern. What had previously been filled with the sounds of his and Axel's weapons against the armour of the Soldier Heartless; the sounds of the darkness swelling and forming more of the creatures, had fallen almost silent. Were the cold wind blowing in his ears at that time, he may not have heard the clinking armour from a distance. The brunette watched him as he paced towards the fence that surrounded the top part of the postern; when she realised there was something out there she approached him.

"What is it?" She asked.

He slowly raised his right arm and pointed in the direction of the blue landscape beyond the town. There wasn't much visible from the postern, but there were small dark specks that appeared to be Heartless, marching in a great army across the world's outlands.

"It would seem that the Heartless are migrating towards the Great Maw." He told her.

She paused in thought. "Does that mean that the town's safe?"

"No. Not at all." He said promptly, whilst turning and heading for the steps that lead down to the castle. Again he increased his pace and ran off to the next destination – the castle's interior.

Axel finally spoke up, walking towards the young woman after Vexen was out of sight again. "That magic you use... You're not a Hume, are you?"

She turned to face him, and with a smile on her lips, raised her left hand and tapped the side of her nose almost teasingly. It was as if she was saying _'That's for me to know, and you to find out'_, but when she pivoted again and waltzed off in the direction of the steps, she let out a light laugh and told him.

"That spell I used on those Heartless was a Poison elemental called 'Bio'. And I healed your broken nose with a special variation of the Cure element; that spell is called 'Healing Wind'."

At this point, he began to follow, walking a couple of steps behind her.

"So, you're right." She continued. "I'm not a Hume. I used to believe I was, for the longest time. But then Merlin told me that Humes can't use the types of magic that I can. It was hard to believe, at first, and I still don't know exactly _what _I am. But, it doesn't change anything, does it?"

The red-head shook his head slightly when she looked back at him.

She chuckled slightly again. "'Kay. Let's go. We should hurry up. Vexen might get mad if we dilly-dally out here all day."

"Yeah. Sure." He replied in a mumble when she had begun to jog off towards the castle entrance, before then picking his own pace up.

* * *

There were unnatural tremors coming from within the all too familiar study. When he had reached the narrow corridor leading there after finding his way through the others, the blonde slowed down. Whatever – or whoever – was in that room was causing what could only be described as a minor, recurring earthquake. He opened the heavy wooden door with inquisition and walked straight in, only to find that there was no one in the spherical room that was once Ansem's office, amongst the broken glass bottles, tubes and beakers; the mixed piles of old books and documents that were littered in the shelves and on the floor; the maps and diagrams of darkness scribed on the walls. The entire room shook again, disturbing the layers of dust on the surfaces and in the air. He had been there a few times before, after awakening in Radiant Garden one year prior to that time. And he had been there many times as a Nobody. But in his first life, it was where he spent every single day – when the world was still untouched by darkness. When the world was still as it was trying to be then – a beautiful, peaceful land that Ansem the Wise had spoken of in his reports. The time before _he _came.

His large portrait was still pointlessly in the room. Not that it ever served much of a purpose in the first place, it was only previously hanging on the wall to cover the diagram of the heart's darkness that had been drawn on the wall. Xehanort – the foolish apprentice of a foolish man. And yet his image still remained in the study like that room among others was a time capsule of everything that had happened all those years ago. Eleven years, to be precise. Nearly ten of which were spent obeying the silver-haired man in the picture as he sought to use hearts and rule the worlds with them.

For now he knew...

Vexen was snapped out of his thoughts by another short quake. The passage in the circular wall that lead to Ansem's computer was – as usual – open wide. Whatever was causing the place to shake was apparently coming from in there.

The short pathway overlooked what most of the castle consisted of: the massive laboratory Ansem and his apprentices had built. At least, from that glass-floored balcony that lead to the computer room, the immense machine below that churned out Heartless was visible. And from what he could see, it was in use – as he had predicted. The tremors were getting heavier at that point, so heavy that the glass beneath his feet, worryingly enough, began to rattle. He stepped quickly off the pathway and into the computer room, the door of which was also wide open. The metal door opposite that lead to the laboratory itself, however, was shut tight...

Yet stood in front of this door was a young woman, perhaps about the same age as Aerith, with long, dark hair. She was in an offensive stance, her fists clad in black leather gloves raised and her knees bent as she glared at the door. Like many of the others, she hadn't chosen winter clothing – her black top had no sleeves and her pants were cropped. Vexen winced as she quickly raised her left leg and kicked the door; at that very moment the area shook with the impact. The door was clearly very durable, though. Even after being kicked and punched by _her_, there wasn't a single visible dent in it. Nor was she in any sort of pain from not being able to defect something so heavy.

The blonde turned to the computer. The blue screen only showed the status of the machine below, nothing else, unfortunately.

"I believe there is a command to open that door." He told her.

She didn't look surprised when she stood up straight and turned around, even if she was; she hadn't noticed that he was there until he spoke. In response, she shook her head.

"On the computer? I tried. The whole system's locked."

_'Locked?' _He repeated to himself, as he raised his arm, dismissing his shield in a mist of ice, after which he pressed down randomly on one button with his forefinger on the keyboard. There was a loud beep, and the screen turned bright red and the word 'WARNING' began to flash in bold lettering. He retracted his hand and jolted back in shock.

**"WARNING, USER! THIS ACCESS POINT HAS BEEN LOCKED!"** A loud voice boomed. **"TO UNLOCK THE ACCESS POINT, PLEASE INSERT THE PASSWORD!"**

Vexen narrowed his eyes again and frowned. "Hmm. I see."

"I heard you were in Twilight Town." She said, albeit changing the subject.

He looked back over at her. Of the members of the restoration committee, this woman happened to be the 'least informed', as it were. She didn't spend much of her time actually working on the restoration. Then again, neither did many of them, any more.

"I was. I returned just this afternoon." He said.

As if her mind were elsewhere, she gave the metal door another knock (gently, this time) with her knuckles. When nothing happened again, she looked again at the blonde and gave a hopeless sigh, before wandering off towards the open doorway on the other side of the room.

"Well... Welcome back, then."

To this, she walked out onto the glass pathway, turned the corner and left his sight. After which he was left to focus back on the computer, putting her fleeting appearance behind him. The screen had returned to its original blue colour, and again showed the status of the Heartless machine. Said contraption, visible through the pane of glass above the computer, was in a stable condition. The data showed that the Heartless were, as he had thought, being summoned to the Great Maw. He pressed another key at random, and the screen turned red again, along with the loud beep and voice.

**"WARNING, USER! THIS ACCESS POINT HAS BEEN LOCKED! TO UNLOCK THE ACCESS POINT, PLEASE INSERT THE PASSWORD!"**

It had been quite a while since he had used this computer, but still he remembered the password for the program that ran the machine – the DTD. Promptly, he pushed the lettered keys.

**[Alice] [Aurora] [Belle] [Cinderella] [Jasmine] [Kairi] [Snow White]**

There was another grating beep noise.

**"WARNING! INCORRECT PASSWORD!" **The voice exclaimed.

Vexen furrowed his eyebrows. When he had accessed this machine, that had been the password – the names of the Seven Princesses of the Heart. He was sure of it. Either the password had been changed, or the program in use was not the same one as he thought it was.

"Are you trying to access the DTD?" Aerith's voice asked.

He glanced towards the doorway to see that she and Axel had finally arrived.

"I hope you realise how much time you have wasted for yourselves getting here." He said with bitterness.

The red-head wandered straight past the young woman, sending away his chakarams in two short bursts of flame. "Time _Shmime_. The Heartless aren't even in the town any more."

"And you honestly think that qualifies as an excuse?" The blonde asked with a glare.

The brunette wandered over to the computer and interjected, before there was any more of an argument. "The password for the DTD is _Sora, Donald, Goofy_."

Ignoring Axel for that moment, Vexen returned to the keyboard.

**[Sora] [Donald] [Goofy]**

The beep came again.

**"WARNING! INCORRECT PASSWORD!"**

"The computer itself has been locked." He told her. "We require the password for that, not for the program."

Aerith put her fingers to her lips as she thought it over. As far as her areas of knowledge went, she knew more about combat than computers. Usually Leon or Cid would be the ones to deal with Ansem's computer. All she knew was the password for the DTD, and that would allow access to the machine that created the Heartless below them.

"I think you're forgetting something." Axel spoke up, gaining the attention of the other two. "Who do you think actually _locked_ that computer?"

"The same person who used it to release the Heartless, right?" The brunette asked.

He nodded sharply.

"Your point being...?" Enquired Vexen with spite.

"Isn't it obvious?" The red-head responded. "Ansem the Wise is dead. So, there's only one guy left in existence, if you can actually even call it existence, who can lock that computer without a hack, right? After all, Xemnas never let any of the other members anywhere near it when he was using it, did he? Not even Zexion. Not even Saïx. Not even _you_."

There was silence for a moment, then the blonde raised an eyebrow.

"The same Xemnas that you are working for, I presume."

The younger man scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, having just practically contradicted himself. After trying hard to ally with and aid the blonde man and the young woman as much as he could against the Heartless in hopes that the former would help him in return, that didn't seem like a good move. Not at all.

"I... I didn't know he'd do this. I swear." He admitted .

"Oh. Yes. Of course." Vexen spat sarcastically. "And even after what you've done, I will still believe you."

Axel frowned and folded his arms in a stoic manner as the blonde resumed his attempt to unlock the computer. He had figured it out, when he had first walked through the hallowed hallways of that damned castle in his new life. Xehanort – Xemnas – had an ulterior motive to the other Nobodies. His motive wasn't just to regain his heart, which it should have been. That should have been the aim of all the Nobodies. And if the red-head was now working for him, under that same motive, that was just one more reason to hate the boy.

Beep.

**"WARNING, USER! THIS ACCESS POINT HAS BEEN LOCKED! TO UNLOCK THE ACCESS POINT, PLEASE INSERT THE PASSWORD!"**

**[Aeleus] [Braig] [Dilan] [Even] [Ienzo] [Xehanort]**

Beep.

**"WARNING! INCORRECT PASSWORD!"**

He snarled loudly, and turned away from the computer.

"How long do you suppose we have left until the paling falls?" He asked Aerith in a harsh tone.

"Calm down, okay? I think we have another fifteen minutes, at most." She replied.

The blonde narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists. "Calm down? You expect me to _calm down_ when that dirty little bastard is stood right there, blatantly lying to us!?"

"I'm not lying. You're the one who's lying." Axel piqued up, almost as if he actually wanted to piss him off even more. "If that's what you really think of me, Vexen, then why did you even let me come!? And why did you make Aerith fix my nose when you broke it!? You've got a funny way of showing your hatred..."

"_That _is a different matter!" Vexen retorted through gritted teeth.

"What makes it any different!?" Exclaimed the red-head.

The older man crinkled his nose, before walking straight over to his counterpart in three easy strides.

"You really want to know!? Fine, if you are so interested, then I will tell you!!"

But he didn't tell him. Not exactly. There was a long pause which they spent glaring at each other, and then, when he was assured that he was going to catch him off guard, the blonde shot his right hand upwards and snagged the younger man by the neck, choking him hard. Then, he pushed him backwards into the wall, raising him up from the floor. Axel gagged and spluttered, then wheezed as his back hit the wall. The room shook like it had done when the dark haired woman from before was attacking the locked door. Aerith gasped aloud, her eyes wide as she covered her mouth with her hands. The red-head grimaced in pain, kicking his legs weakly in a futile attempt to get down. He felt Vexen's already cold hand get colder, and colder, until he opened his eyes; saw the dry ice and realised what he was doing.

"...S-Sh-it!!" He managed to spurt out, quickly raising his own hands and grasping the blonde's bare wrist.

If he was going to try and freeze his neck whilst choking him, there was one thing he could do in self-defence. First, he dug his nails into his skin, and then, set his hands alight.

After all... Fire could _never_ lose to ice.

The older man cried out in pain, but didn't let go. He couldn't. This was his chance. This was his chance for the revenge he wanted. He wasn't going to let go until he had snapped his counterpart's head off his shoulders. The burning was intense, incredibly so, but he wasn't going to let go until he had won this fight.

"Stop!!" Aerith shouted, squeezing her hands into very tight fists. She felt helpless, among other things; powerless to stop it... And frightened that Vexen, someone she was so sure she knew – before the red-head had appeared that day – someone she cared about, someone she _loved_, was doing the most horrifying thing: trying to kill someone, right in front of her eyes. Her shaking hands were now held over her mouth again and she shook her head at a very slow pace from side to side.

She went ignored. Both their grips on each other simply tightened even more.

"Please!!" The brunette yelled. "Stop it!! Stop it _now_!!"

Though both of them were grimacing from the elemental afflict they were inducing on one and other, shortly after Vexen clearly begun to see Axel writhing in pain beneath his clutch, his lips curled upwards into a sour grin. And when Aerith saw this expression on his face; when she heard the sickly laugh that escaped his throat; when she looked into his jade-coloured eyes that were fixated on the younger man and saw something she had never seen before – and it terrified her more than anything.

"V-Vexen! Vexen, stop it!!"

And when he didn't listen to her that time, her frustrations and anxiety got the better of her. She took a final glance at the fight in front of her, drew in a huge breath, threw her fists down and released everything she had into a loud scream.

"STOP!! STOP!! STOP!! STOP!! _STOP_!! STOP IT – _NOW_!!!" Her last word came as a piercing screech as she stamped her foot in demand.

The blonde blinked his gratified expression off his face, and as if her mind was completely manipulating him to do so, he dropped the red-head to the floor, breaking both of their grips on each other. Then, he with a blank look, he slowly turned to the young woman. Her eyes were wide, and glazed over so much that they appeared as lustrous emeralds when he looked into them. But he knew. He knew why they looked that way.

His own eyes broadened, and he parted his lips as he examined the look in her eyes. She was frozen to the spot in absolute terror. But she instantly thawed herself when he raised his hand and spoke her name as gently as possible.

Then, she ran. She ran back down the glass pathway and through the study, out into the corridors. She didn't care if she drained her energy this time. She had to get out of there. She had to get as far away as possible from _him_. So, she ran. And ran. As fast as her legs would let her go.

Axel watched from his position on the floor of the computer room. He had coughed and spluttered a few times, rubbing at his sore, defrosting neck; picking up his hat that had fallen off and putting it back on his head. He made sure his throat was totally clear until he spoke up again, as Vexen lowered his arm after watching Aerith rush off. The skin on his right wrist was burnt badly, but he moved his left hand over it and pressed as much cold against it as he could. The pain of it was awful, but he didn't care. It wasn't nearly as bad as when she had looked at him like she had done – with such fear and repulse; on the brink of tears. And all he could to was snarl, and mentally beat himself for it. And possibly blame the red-head.

"Smooth." Axel said, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he rolled his eyes.

"Shut up." The blonde said, unconvincingly and dejectedly.

"Of course. You're in charge, after all – aren't you, Number Four?" He continued in the same tone, beginning to stagger his way back to his feet.

His counterpart didn't reply. He just walked towards the computer again, looking out through the pane of glass at the huge machine below. Once the younger man was back on his feet, he slowly began to approach him.

"Look. I'm sorry. Is that what you want to hear? Or do you actually need to kill me? Because she's not here any more. She won't be able to see you do it, this time. If you can."

Vexen shook his head. "But she'd never forgive me for it, would she? You would rather die so that I would suffer with that regret than go on living without Roxas. Am I right?"

The red-head exhaled. "No. Of course not."

"Then what the hell_ are_ you doing?"

"Well... You know... I'm apologising, for a start."

Taking a few steps in a half-circle to face him, the blonde looked Axel straight in the eye and asked, "What exactly are you apologising for?"

He was taken aback. He wasn't sure if he'd even heard that correctly. Surely he knew what it was about. But perhaps he wanted confirmation, or something like that. He wasn't sure, but he spoke anyway.

"...I'm apologising for being a dick. Which is something that has many subcategories. It's called generalisation, got it memorised? Anything I ever did to piss you off, I'm now saying sorry for."

"And the only reason you are doing so is because you wish for my aid in reuniting the Organization." The older man said promptly, scowling. "You will never be truly sorry for what you did to me. And I cannot accept a false apology from Xemnas's pawn, especially seeing as how I despise the both of you."

The red-head was about to respond, when he was interrupted. "Look, I--"

**"TIMER COMPLETE. ACCESS POINT UNLOCKED. HEARTLESS WITHDRAWN. DTD SHUT DOWN." **The computer's voice announced.

Vexen pivoted and looked towards the data screen of the computer. The status showed that the town's situation was stable, and the Heartless machine below came to a halt.

"That's that, I guess. So, Xemnas had all the Heartless go to the Great Maw. And on a timer, too." Axel said. "But why?"

The blonde snarled. "You're his little lackey, aren't you? You're the one whom should know."

"Yeah, see, I told you before. I have nothing to do with the Heartless, got it memorised? Remember, I helped you fight 'em off outside. I don't know what Xemnas is doing with them, or why. All I know is, he's made me an offer I can't refuse."

Frowning, and without saying another word, the older man left the computer room. His mind was flooding with the thoughts of the last hour or so – so much that he didn't notice his counterpart following him out. Ever since he'd met the red-head again that day, he wasn't able to think straight – especially with all this about the Heartless, Xemnas, the Organization; things he thought he had put far behind him...

...Things that he assured himself were going to stay behind him. There was no way he was going back. Even if Axel was going to take Xemnas up on his 'offer', as it were, he certainly wasn't going to. No matter what.

* * *

_A/N: Argh, it's, like, 6AM on 12/4, but I've finished! I'm so groggy, so I hope the last few paragraphs aren't too crap. I have more plot holes to fill in, and I really wish I could describe more about Vexen and his past linked with Ansem's study, but I'm saving those for later chapters, and my bed is now calling for me. Plus, the Heartless on the Great Maw scene is going to be in UH:luc._

_Gotta say though, I felt Tifa's cameo was my favourite part. I just had to have her wandering around Ansem's study, smashing something up!_

_Oh, and, by the way, I had an alternative to this chapter, but it was incredibly awkward, Vexel-ish, quite OOC and mostly for my own entertainment. I don't know if anyone's interested, but it involved some content that certainly would have knocked my rating up to M. As in... Yeah... Lemony. I think it's best to leave it at that. And just so you know, Aerith was out of the room before it happened!_

_I'm also really sorry I sent Aerith into a bitch fit near the end there. I'll go more into that in the next chapter._

_OH MAH GAWD. I just saw the English re:CoM scenes. Derek Stephen Prince LOOOOVE. Now I won't be able to think of Vexen's death in any other way than Bleach way. Kon killing Ishida. It's outrageous. But their voices are so sexy. Shame Larxene isn't as high-pitched as expected... And she's now the Taco Bell girl... Right, so, this fic is now Kon x Jesse McCartney, and Ishida x Taco Bell girl. Yeah..._

_So, toodles! Oh, and don't forget to leave a review! Please? Pretty please?_

_Luffles you!_

_**Nweezle**_


	6. Chapter Six

**Undying Hearts:  
****The Revenant Saga**

_A/N: Not really sure what I make of the last chapter myself. It got interesting, I'd say. There's some stuff I need to edit in the earlier chapters again. And I'm now worried that I've got the facts about the DTD wrong. I'm still pretty sure that it's the program that makes the Heartless machine run... I think... I can't believe KH is so confusing! It's half-Disney, and Nomura makes the plot so in-depth! Not that it's bad, it's just a bit misleading sometimes. I'm still trying to figure out Heartless and Nobodies completely. I know neither of them have hearts, but when attacked by the Keyblade, Heartless release captive hearts because they are created as the darkness in people's hearts, however when they are struck by the light of a Keyblade, the darkness is overcome and the heart is captive and it goes up and joins Kingdom Hearts... I THINK._

_Whatever. I'm still confused._

_And just where **do **the Restoration Committee live!? I have a few of them living across the street from Merlin's house. They can't live with Merlin, cause he only has one room in his house. Though now I wonder where his bathroom is... Okay, I'm not gonna wonder that for very much longer._

_(Attempts to rid thoughts of it)._

_Okay, so, thanks go out to **Roxas Stalker **and **Insanecat6 **for their kind reviews that I haven't replied to. Also, thanks to **Michiyu **for the alert. I hope you're enjoying this story._

_On with the chapter!_

* * *

**Chapter Six**

The red-head had been walking, quite unnervingly, about two or three steps behind him. He only realised this when they were halfway back down the restoration site – it was unnerving, in the way that he felt like at any moment he would draw his chakarams and strike him through the back with one of them. Again. Besides... He was sure he told him to stay where he could keep his eye on him. To which, he glanced backwards. Axel had a blank expression, but there was a look in his eyes whilst he apparently stared at the back of his head that showed a smug cockiness.

"Why must you continue to pursue me?" The blonde all but sighed.

He smirked. "Why shouldn't I be? I'm not leaving you alone 'til we're on good terms. Or, more specifically, I finish what I came to do. Hope that's okay with you."

He was still testing his patience, so it seemed. Was that his objective, all along? Or was it just a trait of a much higher target? It was almost as if neither of them were sure how to treat each other any more, and were just acting as their personae would let them in such a situation.

Vexen turned to face the younger man, whilst walking (or, carefully shuffling) backwards. His left hand was still gripping his right wrist, and radiating a balm of ice to heal his burn.

"What ever made you think it _would_ be okay?" He sneered, before turning his back again and walking straight.

"Actually, I didn't. But I'm gonna make it okay."

The older man groaned. "Your ideals are very unrealistic. I, for one, am not convinced."

His counterpart curled his lips further.

"Well, maybe an experiment would 'put your doubts to rest'?" He suggested with a sort of false encouragement and mockery.

_'Experiment?'_

He glanced back once more at the red-head, cocking an eyebrow.

"And just what do you mean by that?"

Axel shrugged. "Dunno. Just tryin' to speak your language."

The blonde rolled his eyes slightly, whilst shaking his head. He continued to walk ahead, down into the lower area of the bailey. It was from that angle that the vast outlands of Radiant Garden were visible – and completely Heartless-free. Not a single speck of darkness remained on the blue hues of the land, proving that the computer had indeed been in control of the Heartless. And, as much as Vexen hated to admit it, the younger man, despite his minor contradiction, was right – only Xemnas could have done that. Maleficent, wherever that witch may have been at that time, wouldn't have been able to use that computer, and Ansem the Wise ultimately had no control over the Heartless. Asides from which, he was dead – according to Axel, at least. Which, after a bout of silence, lead him to raise the subject...

"I have a question for you." The older man said with a bitter tone, halting at the bottom of the bailey's stone steps and facing his counterpart again.

The red-head also came to a stop, about four paces away from the steps.

"Great. Hope I have an answer." He told him in an almost sarcastic – yet not – voice, folding his thin arms across his chest.

"If I recall correctly, before, you said that Ansem the Wise is dead."

"Yeah. That's what Xemnas told me, when I asked about Kingdom Hearts."

"Kingdom Hearts?" He enquired further.

Axel neutralised his expression, looked down towards the ground, and raised his left hand, whilst keeping his other arm crossed, to scratch the side of his head (almost) nervously.

"Y'know..." He begun to explain. "Ansem went about calling himself 'DiZ'; seeking his revenge on the Organization."

Vexen noticed that when the younger man dropped his arms his fists clenched along with his face. And he knew why. He was scowling downwards at the frosted stone surface beneath there feet as if he could actually see Ansem's face in it.

"And he kept Roxas in the pseudo Twilight Town with the intention of having him rejoin with Sora." The blonde said, in a way that made it sound like it was so that he didn't have to say it himself.

The red-head looked up towards him. "Which you'd know a lot about, wouldn't you?"

Swiftly, the older man turned again and began his ascent of the steps before he responded.

"Though we may have had our different motives, neither of us wanted the Keybearer to become a puppet. And yet even now I still wonder – for you were aware of Roxas's desire to meet his Other, were you not?"

Because of how he had phrased it, Axel faltered and had to think over what Vexen had said in his sentence a few times. In the end, whilst following his counterpart up the steps, he changed the subject back to the previous one.

"Yeah, whatever. I wasn't able to save Roxas from DiZ. In the end, he joined with Sora again. From then on, I worked against Xemnas's will – I worked against the Organization to find Sora. I wanted to see Roxas again, before I died. Shame I didn't. But that's why I'm doing this now. Anyway, after I died, Xemnas told me that the remaining members of the Organization – apart from the Superior himself – were taken care of by Sora. When Xemnas was the only one left, Ansem and his plot for revenge came along. Didn't really catch the whole story, but he used some kind of gadget to reclaim all the hearts from Kingdom Hearts. Something like that. In doing so, the heart-claiming contraption destroyed him, as well as Kingdom Hearts itself. But Xemnas said that his plan technically backfired. He thinks that's why we... Y'know..."

Once the red-head had shut his mouth, they had reached the top of the bailey. Wanting to know what the end of his sentence was, the blonde slowed down and came to a halt, stopping and turning once again towards him with a sour expression.

"We _what_?" He asked.

Axel didn't have time to come to a complete stop. Once the question was asked, whilst still walking slowly, he shrugged again slightly, and then headed towards the older man, whom shuffled back an inch or two in a half-hearted attempt to create a safe distance between the two of them. But the younger man didn't need much more than a yard of distance. To answer his question, he merely lifted his arm and tapped the blonde on the chest with his index finger. A very unsettling action, for Vexen, at least, whom looked off-put as soon as the red-head had touched him. After he had retracted his hand, there was still silence, so he spoke up to clarify.

"Ansem destroyed the weave of Kingdom Hearts. But when that happened, somehow, the freed hearts of the fallen Nobodies rejoined with them in the darkness. The rest of the freed hearts went on to respawn Heartless. That's what Xemnas said, anyway."

There was a couple more seconds of silence in which Vexen spent looking downwards. He thought that he should ask the red-head why he should believe him, but much different words came out of his mouth than were formed in his head when he gave the younger man eye contact.

"And how, dare I ask, do you know I have a heart?"

He was put on the spot, to say the least. Axel shifted, as the blonde began to walk off across the stone cove in a manner that made it seem like he didn't want to hear the answer. And maybe he didn't want to hear the answer he was going to give him. But the red-head wasn't afraid to say it – after all, the worst he could do was break or freeze another of his body parts. He wasn't afraid of him; he knew all too well that there was no way he could beat him. Ever.

His voice sounded incredibly cocky. But then again, it usually did – no matter if he was trying to be or not. "...Well... Back in the computer room. For example. I saw it in your eyes – when you looked at that Aerith chick, before she ran out."

As soon as he heard the young woman's name spoken, the blonde came to a halt.

"That look. I've got it memorised. No one without a heart could ever genuinely pull it off."

There was another pause before Vexen looked over his shoulder, then retorted in a quiet and restrained, yet harsh tone. He hated it when he was right. "You know so little... It may have just been a façade. You are in no position to tell."

When he began to walk off again, Axel furrowed his eyebrows, frowning heavily.

"Denial." He said sharply. "It's not just a river in that place that I can never remember the name of."

The older man grunted, and picked up his pace – practically storming off. This caused the red-head to do the exact same thing with the intention of keeping at least four yards behind him. He wasn't going to let him run off, even though there was nowhere to run. And he knew that their destination was the houses back in the borough. Which was where Aerith was most likely to have gone.

When the blonde had failed to give a vocalised answer, the younger man spoke up again on a similar topic. "You _are _going to apologise to her, aren't you?"

"It is none of your concern if I do or not." He retorted.

"Aw, that's too bad." Axel said sarcastically with a sly grin. "See, I thought you'd actually started to give a damn about someone else."

The conversation ended there, for when they reached the borough from the other end of the bailey, Vexen made sure it was cut off. On the left of the bailey were large stone blocks leading down to the lower part of the borough, and instead of taking the long route and heading for the steps that were inconveniently placed at the other end of the path, he merely jumped off the ledge and down those to the area below. The red-head waited a while before following him, and watched as he swiftly headed off through the rows of houses back to where they were before. Then, he hopped down the blocks himself, continuing his pursuit.

After all, no matter what the cost, he had to remain adamant. He had to complete what he set out to do. For _his _sake.

* * *

As she had predicted, the Wellspring water had taken less time than expected to take effect. It was almost as if she hadn't just recovered from a life-threatening illness – as if it had just been a common cold. Or something like that.

So, there was no need for her to fester up in her room. Despite the late time, she had showered (quickly, since a negative trait of having her element caused her to feel incredibly faint if she spent too long in water – putting the actual use of her element in water being incredibly dangerous aside. Her hair, in fact, was still quite damp, and not in its usual shape), pulled on a plain T-shirt and jeans, collected her latest book and gone downstairs to read it. Whilst having to spend the past few days in bed, she had gotten through most of the rather thick book, and was intent on finishing it by the end of that day.

Sat with her legs outstretched across one of the two worn grey couches in what otherwise appeared to be a cosy front room, resting against the arm of the seat with her back to the front door, she had just turned a clean page of the book and begun the first line of the next chapter. So, absorbed in said item, she didn't quite expect the door to suddenly open so quickly and so harshly that it almost flew off its hinges. And her heart almost flew out of her chest upon impact.

And when Vexen stormed across the creaking floorboards, he almost didn't notice her.

"Ever heard of knocking?" Larxene asked once she had recovered from the surprise and he had reached the other side of the room and had begun to look through the arched doorway that lead to the kitchen, as if in search of something. Which he was.

It was understandable from both the angle of the couch and his general motive that he hadn't noticed her at first. Though still scanning the kitchen a little while longer, he soon gave a reply.

"This isn't your house."

The blonde woman frowned, even if he wasn't looking. "I live here, don't I?"

He pivoted abruptly and gave her a sarcastic (and incredibly annoyed) grimace.

"I apologise. Allow me to correct my statement. This isn't _just _your house." He spat, before stomping back across the front room.

She snarled, but he spoke again before she could verbalise anything.

"Is Aerith here?"

Larxene rolled her eyes. "Miss her that much, do you? She ran in and went upstairs. No 'hello Larxene, I'm glad you're feeling better' or anything."

_'She has a good reason, believe me.' _He said mentally, before heading towards the staircase in the front room, clearly planning to leave the front door wide open.

"'Hello Larxene, I'm glad you're feeling better!'" She repeated in a perky, matter-of-fact sort of tone when he had taken the first step up. "'But it's a shame I can't stick around and help you even though you've just recovered from a life-threatening illness because I need to go see if Aerith is okay 'cause she's all wonderful and special and shit like that!"

Vexen exhaled, and continued upstairs, giving her the otherwise silent 'I don't have time for you' treatment. Of course, the young woman could read him as easily as the open book in her lap.

"Of course you have time. You just don't spend it right." She said quietly, just in case he wasn't quite out of earshot. She was almost about to return to her book when she realised the front door was still open. With a disgruntled sigh, she left her book on the nearby coffee table with the open pages flat on the surface, stood up and headed for the door.

But when she got there, she didn't shut it. When she looked outside, out into the borough street, what she saw completely prevented her from doing so.

He hadn't quite realised it yet, but maybe going upstairs, and leaving her downstairs, wasn't such a good move by the blonde man. Not in that situation. He didn't realise it until he had approached Aerith's room on the dark corridor. Her door was shut tight, and there was no sound coming from inside, which made him wonder if she was even in there. But where else could she have been? He looked up and down the corridor, and there was no evidence that she was in any of the other rooms.

So, he had to knock on her door. And ask for her time. And apologise... God, he hated the sound of all of that. It wasn't in his nature to be sincerely repentant. Not to mention he was (probably) terrible at it, unless it was in a manner of a caustic remark, of course. But at the end of the day, it _was _Aerith. If it had been anyone else, she would be the one pressuring him to apologise to them. Ironically, if he didn't say he was sorry right away, the entire Restoration Committee (almost) would be on his back until he did. Not to mention the pang of guilt that ached badly every time he had thought of her since the incident less than ten minutes prior to that time.

He inhaled, and raised his hand, ready to tap his knuckles against her door (which he was staring at oddly, as if said wooden item had angered him, or was telling him into apologise. Maybe it was, but he had to clear his mind of those thoughts. Clearly that day had been quite hectic, and he was obviously tired if he was beginning to think that doors were somehow interacting with him). But he was stopped before he could knock.

_Then _he realised.

"_AXEL_!!"

An alarming cross between a yell and a groan followed.

Vexen winced. The entire borough must have heard that. But that wasn't the problem. The problem was the red-haired man, and the blonde woman that had yelled his name. Despite his thoughts to prioritise Aerith, he knew that leaving those two down there was definitely _not _a good idea.

_'Shit!'_

If he had actually wanted to save Axel from Larxene's wrath, as it were, he was certainly too late when he got downstairs. The red-head had obviously headed back to Merlin's house to collect his things as the older man had rushed inside the home opposite. But now, he was almost rolling about on the frozen ground outside, his bag lying next to him, his face contorted in pain, and his hands... Clasped against his crotch. The blonde woman was stood in front of him, a look of zealous anger on her face; her fists were clenched, and beginning to spark electricity. To make matters somewhat worse, Merlin and Cid were stood at the door of said wizard's house. Both of them had a look of astonishment fixed on their faces, though they were also stood far back, obviously not wanting to get involved. Putting two-and-two together, Vexen stood on Larxene's right, passing judgement briefly. Unlike the others', his expression was strangely calm, though he was also quite surprised. And also... Amused.

There was an unpleasant silence that graced the borough, which he managed to break by speaking up in a somewhat grateful tone, whilst still staring down at the younger man. "Ah. Larxene. You shouldn't have."

Immediately, she looked at him – still with anger, but at that moment she also looked confused. Mostly she wondered why he wasn't shocked to see Axel. But then it hit her that he probably already knew he was there. Before she could say anything, or before anyone else there could, he grabbed her shoulder, forced her to turn around and marched her back inside... Or at least _attempted _to.

But, any longer out there...

"Come, dear. You're not well. You shouldn't be outside."

The woman had little idea of what he was doing. Almost desperately, she forced herself away from him.

"Don't 'dear' me, old man!" She said through clenched teeth, before pointing downwards at the griping red-head. "Are you blind!? You _do _know who that is, right!?"

Vexen glanced for a second or two towards Axel, whom was now attempting to recuperate.

"_That_, _dear_..." He said purposefully. "...Is a perfect example of comeuppance."

To this, he tried to move her back inside again. At that point, there was no doubt in her mind that he knew of the younger man's presence.

"Now, come back inside. He will crawl back where he came from, and no longer be a burden." He continued.

She wriggled away. Again. And chortled in irritation. "That's unlikely. I haven't exactly finished with him!"

The blonde man was forcing all his mental energy into trying to be incredibly patient with her. Just for that situation. He knew it would be for the best if he managed to separate her from the red-head, as easy and as tempting as allowing her to go completely feral and tear him to pieces sounded. Besides, that wouldn't exactly give either of them a good reputation. They weren't Nobodies. Not any more. They wouldn't be able to get away with it. Not as easily, anyway.

Though, as usual, she was wearing his patience thin.

"Yes, you have." He said in a less tolerant tone, this time.

He hadn't anticipated what happened next. He was about to force her back inside again, when something, _someone_, ran straight past him in a hurry from inside the house. He hadn't even heard her come down the stairs, but sure enough, when he looked at Axel on the ground again, Aerith was right there, knelt down next to him.

"Are you okay?" She gasped, helping him to sit up.

He murmured something incoherent to her, wincing as he tried to pull himself up, and cocking his head in the direction of the blonde woman. The brunette, at a steady pace, looked back at Larxene, whom gave her a wry smirk, as if to say 'what did you expect?' in response. Her eyebrows were raised, but somehow she wasn't as surprised as when she had found out that Vexen had broken the young man's nose.

"Aerith." The older man said, in hopes that it would gain her attention; in hopes that she wasn't ignoring him completely. The same pang of guilt returned, but at least it would (probably) go if he spoke up now.

For that second, her thoughts were too absorbed in trying to piece together what exactly had gone on that she looked at him, forgetting all that had happened in the computer room for those few moments, until – of course – he mentioned it.

"I apologise completely for what happened in the study." His voice didn't sound very convincing for what he was saying. Then again it never really did. He normally sounded cold like that. She knew that, at least. "Though I would much rather speak on it with you later."

A gasp escaped her lips. Her mind was processing so many thoughts, so many events, that she couldn't really form any response, especially since half her mind was yelling at her to blank him again.

Luckily at that moment the blonde man took his female counterpart by the shoulder again and gave her a considerable shove inside, walked in himself, and shut the door behind them both with a slam before she could react.

When the door was shut, he leaned against it, resting his forehead against the grain of the wood, groaning in a kind of relief.

"Go on, then." The woman said from behind him. She had a clear scowl on her face that showed that she certainly didn't appreciate being pushed inside as she had been. But on this occasion, she was willing to hear him out.

He backed off the door and turned towards her. "What is it?"

She pasted over the scowl on her face with a sweet, yet sarcastic smile. One of those 'I'll get what I want, or you'll get hurt' smiles. "Don't be stupid. Obviously, Larxene demands an explanation for this bullshit."

Vexen walked past her, towards the couch she had previously been lying on. He slumped down into it, releasing a long sigh.

"What do you think?" He asked once he had done so. "Axel has pursued me ever since I returned from Twilight Town. Despite his reasons, above all he has come with the expectation that I will forgive him."

She also wandered over to the couch, taking her book from the coffee table and marking the page, before shutting it. "Oh, and you didn't think to maybe... Tell him to piss off?"

"I did." He said.

Larxene rolled her eyes. "If he didn't listen, you should have _hurt _him. And I mean, REALLY hurt him. Hard."

"...I did." He repeated.

She furrowed her eyebrows in perplexion.

"But he..."

"Aerith healed his injury, if that is what you are confused about." He interjected.

"Ohh, Aerith did, did she?" The young woman asked, folding her arms. "Incredibly potent magic powers, incredibly tiny brain. Huh. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?"

He grunted. "Why do you imply such a thing? Aerith is not an idiot. Far from it."

"She healed Axel's injury. After you went and shared the whole story of Castle Oblivion and more with her, I repeat, she _healed Axel's inju--_"

"I know that!" Vexen snapped. He didn't appreciate it when she talked down about the brunette, and in this situation, he wasn't going to stand for it. Besides, she didn't know the whole story of Castle Oblivion, let alone 'more'. "If you must know, Larxene, I _asked _her to heal him!"

The blonde woman's eyes widened, and she had to play back that sentence a few times in her head.

"You... You... You _what_!?" She sounded more angry than shocked. Which she probably was. "_Why_!?"

Why? That was something he didn't want to hear. He didn't want to explain himself to her. For one simple reason – she'd never, _ever_, let him live it down. So, he didn't reply. He shrugged to rid himself of her enquiry.

But his silence was in vain. She was eccentric in an unnerving – _very_ unnerving – way when she did it, but she could actually read him very easily when he refused to give her a straight reply.

"Ohh, Vexie!" She said in a sweet yet mocking tone, her smirk giving it away mostly. "Let me guess. You felt bad about it, didn't you?"

He looked over at her with his jaw wide open. She could read that easily, too. That was his 'how the hell do you do that!?' look. Very distinguishable. Though above everything, it obviously confirmed what she had said to be true.

She giggled in the back of her throat, before taking a seat next to him on the couch. "See what she's done to you? You'd never feel bad about murdering Axel before raping and eating his corpse if Aerith hadn't have... 'Intervened'."

He narrowed his eyes. He could only put aside the disgusting sentence that she had just spoken when he had assured himself he had heard it right. So as not to stray from the point.

"Intervened? You have no idea what you are talking about."

"She isn't a Hume, is she? So, I should think there is only one other possibility. That girl is a witch."

He shook his head. Quite briskly. Which only made her press him harder.

"So, do tell. What were you apologising to her for? Did you knock her cauldron over? Release her toads? Break her wand? Swallow the wrong potion?"

"Be quiet!" He said harshly, standing and moving away from her.

To this, she merely laughed.

"You know I'm right. So why do you insist on defending her?"

"Actually, why do you insist on disfavouring her?" He spat, pivoting to face her again.

Larxene faltered, but kept her expression completely unchanged.

"She's... Annoying." She wasn't lying, exactly. Just being lax with the details. Of course there was more to it, but she didn't exactly feel like sharing it with him. Unlike her male counterpart, it wasn't quite so easy to squeeze elaborate information from her.

Vexen snorted. "And you aren't?"

"And _you _aren't?" She repeated with another sickly smile.

He groaned and sighed at the same time, shaking his head again.

"Did you hear the commotion before?"

She nodded, despite the fact she didn't want to change the subject. "Why?"

"Heartless."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Heartless? Is that what it was about?"

"Yes. Aerith, Axel and myself went to Ansem's study to uncover what was happening, and we came to find that Xemnas was behind the attack. Interestingly enough, Axel has been working for Xemnas. He claims that if he can unite all of the members of the Thirteenth Order again, Xemnas will give him the one thing he wants the most."

With an amused smirk, she added, "Roxas."

He scoffed the rest of the explanation. "It would seem that Axel is willing to do whatever it takes to have us on his side once more." He continued. "Though, then the link between Axel and Xemnas, and Xemnas and the Heartless became clear. He had practically contradicted himself, though he claimed he had nothing to do with the Heartless. That was when I tried to kill him. I tried to kill Axel, right in front of Aerith. And that is why I apologised to her."

She then realised that, in fact, he hadn't changed the subject at all. Next, she lay out on the couch as she had done before, and opened up her book at the marked page. "Hmph. Suuuuure. But once again, you messed it up. Because of Aerith."

He took a long exhale through his nose, and then headed off in the direction of the kitchen. After all that had happened, he really, _really _needed a drink... But before he disappeared into the back room, something collided with the back of his head. Something hard. He grimaced and emitted a short cry upon impact, before whatever it was dropped down to the floor and resounded. He turned to look at the item at his feet, before picking it up; at this point he realised that Larxene was looking over at him with an angelic (yet obviously fake) smile.

"Whilst you're in there, be a good boy and get me a soda."

Vexen frowned, holding the item up and showing it to her. "There is no need to throw coasters at me to gain my attention."

"That's good to know. Now go get me a soda."

He threw it back across the room at her. "You expect too much of me. I am not your slave. Why not go get one yourself?"

After catching the coaster, she replaced it on the table next to her. "In case you've forgotten, I'm still recovering from a life-threatening illness."

"Is that so? You certainly seem well enough." His voice became gradually quieter as he entered the other room. "Well enough for what happened out there."

To this, it didn't take long for her to begin to think over what had just happened, in conjunction with the information she had just received from their conversation. The pieces seemed to fit, even if it all sounded rather odd. In fact, if she hadn't already heard all the details piece by piece, it would have seemed overwhelming. If what the blonde man had told her was entirely correct, and Axel was there to unite the Organization, as much as it seemed an incredibly unlikely outcome, it meant that he was willing to do anything. Just for _him_. Just for Roxas. He was following Xemnas's orders. That alone probably proved it. But among the ranks of the Thirteenth Order, he wasn't exactly on the best of terms with all of the other members. Far from it. To the best of her knowledge, and if the members that were not in Castle Oblivion knew of the events of said place, Axel was branded a traitor throughout the whole Organization. Then again – as a matter of fact, so was she. There was more than one renegade within the Order's ranks... And Vexen had stated that he was uniting _all _the members... But the Superior, using the Flurry of Dancing Flames himself? Why would he want that? Something didn't quite add up there.

Nevertheless, there was a thought that she couldn't seem to shake from her mind. Even after pressing factors against it, the more she thought about it, the better it sounded. She marked her book again (she hadn't even begun to read any more of it, but at that moment, it didn't really matter), and rose from the couch. There was clinking in the kitchen, most likely from the blonde man scouring the room for a mug, or a spoon, or something of the sort. With the decision clear in her mind, she stepped across the front room and straight through the doorway.

"You know, I just thought of something..."

* * *

_A/N: LARXEEEENE. Harder to write and less in-character than I had imagined. Urgh. This took longer than the others. And it's far worse... I must be on the wrong track? I'm either tired or confused. Or both. I have a clear view of the plot from the next chapter onward, though. We'll finally get out of Radiant Garden by chapter eight. Speaking of chapters, I still haven't decided on the 'to name or not to name' query. Maybe later..._

_(bangs fist on table like F. von Karma) WHY. DO. I. FEEL. LIKE. I'VE. MESSED. THIS. UP!!!!?_

_Well, as always, please review. There's been, like, about 300 hits to this story, and only fifteen reviews. That makes about 285 dead Dreamhares so far. Please, please, please think of the poor little Dreamhares!!_

_Ahem..._

_TTFN! Luffles you!_

_**Nweezle**_


	7. Chapter Seven

**Undying Hearts:  
****The Revenant Saga**

_A/N: Once again, I've started before uploading chapter six. However, I didn't finish by then, obviously, otherwise there wouldn't be such a huge gap between the update of this chapter and the last one. Sorry. This took even longer than chapter six! Gosh._

_Hey, KH fanfic writers! We're almost to 40,000 stories in this section of fanfiction-dot-net! Glad to be part of that horrifically large number! Keep on rolling, guys and girls!_

_Righty-ho. On with the story!_

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

When Larxene had entered and had begun to profess her idea, Vexen was knelt by the small, open refrigerator. He looked up towards her as she spoke, and then waited for her to continue instead of interjecting anything.

"Just how persistent is Axel being?" She asked.

It took a couple of moments for him to think of a good descriptive word to answer her with. "Incredibly persistent. He will not give up. I very much doubt he will rest until he has Roxas. Or, more realistically, until he is dead."

"Soooo, he's completely serious. Right?"

He nodded.

"Aaaaand, neither of us are exactly willing to play his little 'making nice' game, are we?"

He shook his head.

"Soooo..."

The blonde woman gave a sly smirk. Though to this, her male counterpart frowned.

"Forgive me, but I do know that look of yours. If you have some kind of malign plan involving Axel, I – for one – would rather be left out of it." He told her.

"I doubt it." She said bluntly. "But, what should I expect? That's so like you to jump to a negative conclusion. After all, you haven't even heard the details."

"Actually, I should think that I've heard enough to draw my own opinion." He explained. "I want nothing to do with him. Though this only leads me to wonder, why do you?"

She pressed her lips together in silent thought, not breaking their eye contact. He probably wasn't going to hear her out unless she made it sound convincing, she knew that. Exhaling through her nose, she made her way over to the man, and stood right in front of him. Knelt down, he came up to a short way above her waist. She bent over, placed a single index finger under his chin and tilted his head slightly upwards to her level. She wanted to see the look in his eyes when she brought him to a realisation. She _loved_ that look.

"Oh, come on! If what you say is true, and I hope – for your sake – it is, the traitor is at our mercy!" She told him with a broad smirk.

His expression was much the opposite of hers. Much the opposite of what she wanted. He narrowed his eyes as he strayed from the subject on purpose. "You certainly don't seem very unwell at all. As untrue as I am willing to let my claim be, somehow you are making me believe that your illness was merely a scheme to rid me of this world. Though it wouldn't surprise me if you were also using it to, perhaps, skip work?"

She released him halfway through his speech, rolling her eyes and wandering off across the room.

"Why don't _you _try the Balfu? I'm sure you'd just _love_ it!" She spat once he'd finished. "Of course I was ill, unless _you've_ been delusional for the past week! And if you think I was using it as a break - although getting rid of _you_ for a day or two really took a lot of weight off my shoulders, your pesky little Aerith happened to be by my bedside almost twenty-four-seven! I'd rather work my ass off every single day for the next decade than have to go through _that _again! And that's putting _aaaaaall_ the symptoms and effects of the Balfu aside."

Vexen gritted his teeth, and spoke through them. To her, his position made it look like he was hiding his head in the refrigerator. "She was there to stabilise your condition. Had she not been, the Balfu, in its final stages, would have killed you with ease. You should be grateful."

"Kchh, yeah, _grateful_." Larxene responded sarcastically, pulling herself up onto the dark-coloured counter behind her. "I'll remember that next time she starts spurting hot air. And I don't mean from her cauldron."

He glowered, but as she was sat directly behind him (across the room), she couldn't see his exact expression. She could only tell what he was doing when his head lowered slightly. At this point, he had begun to clunk about, scouring the contents of the appliance he was looking in. And having to search through all of the items that had been stuffed in there only added to his frustrations. He thought a couple of times after she had spoken to form a reply, however, he was starting to feel weary – and a little light-headed – at that point. It probably wasn't worth arguing with her, mainly for that reason. But there was also very little he had left to say in Aerith's defence, if the blonde woman was only going to keep responding as she was doing. Which she would, of course. Of course, when he _didn't _reply, it only caused her to press further.

"What's the matter? Has her black cat got your tongue?" She flouted.

After snorting an exhale, he pulled himself back to his feet and slammed the door of the refrigerator shut, before turning to her again.

"Suit yourself." He said in the calmest way possible, despite the physical actions he was taking. "I will leave you to find your _own_ beverage, then. I bid you good luck in wading through all that crap."

She had a vacant expression as she gave her response, as if her mind were elsewhere but she was still able to answer. "Hmm, well, I already did. About ten minutes ago."

Clearly her attitude wasn't helping his tired state. Or helping the headache that was forming. With a slight groan, he clenched his eyes shut and rubbed in circles at his left temple.

"Then why...?" He begun, but stopped himself on purpose. There was no use asking why she wanted him to get her a drink when there wasn't one in there; he knew the answer. It was, quite simply, just to piss him off. More so. "..._Urgh_..."

"So, what are we going to do about _him_?" Asked Larxene in a peppy sort of tone, brightening up, though this only grated on his current state further.

His forehead was beginning to ache further, and his eyes became heavier with every passing second. Though still he replied, albeit slower than usual. "...Axel?"

From when she had heard the explanation of what the red-head was doing exactly up until that very moment, she had drawn together a string of ideas in conjunction with her current subject.

"Erm. Yeah." She responded matter-of-factly.

Vexen shrugged in an unenthusiastic manner. At that point he was really too tired to think straight. He was even too tired to recall his previous thoughts about Axel. Or much of his conversation with the young woman so far. "What about him?"

She grumbled in the back of her throat, pouting in a sulk and folding her arms.

"_I_ _said_ 'what are we going to do about him'!?" She furrowed her eyebrows and echoed her previous statement through a clenched jaw.

He shrugged again in the same way as before. "Let him do whatever he wants. Practically speaking, there's little he can do to either of us."

At that point, she had begun to grind her teeth together. She was oblivious to the fact that he wasn't thinking straight at that point; not quite grasping the point that she was trying to put across, which only caused her to become frustrated.

"Are you stupid!?" She snapped. "Don't you understand what this means!? Can't you see this is an absolutely perfect opportunity for us!?"

He sighed. "For us to do _what_, exactly?"

_'He really is slow... What the hell is up with him!?' _

"Err, maybe, to – you know – have our revenge, perhaps!?" She said, as if it were the most obvious thing in existence.

"Revenge...?" He mused it over. "...I recall that I did happen to think about that a little earlier..."

"Well, like you said, the traitor can either win or lose here." The blonde woman chuckled, suddenly becoming 'perky' (or whatever was closest to it for her) again. She brought her fingers to her amused smile, as if in thought. "And he's got, what, a ninety-nine percent chance of losing? Wow, I don't know about you, but just _love_ those odds!"

"...Your point being?" He asked, after rubbing with his forefinger at his worn left eye.

Larxene sighed aloud. "There's something – or, rather, someone – he wants. And to get that someone, he needs our help. Don't you see? We have him, right there! He's completely at our mercy!"

"...Yes, you said that before..." He mumbled, trailing off. He had begun to rub at his head again in an attempt to ease the pain that was still swelling there.

"The rest is simple. We ask the traitor to work for us." She continued. "As... Let's say, a servant, of sorts... In exchange for that, we give him the help he wants in his 'uniting of the Thirteenth Order'... Until he drops dead, at least."

"...Intriguing." Vexen said, trying to pull himself together for a response, though his weariness was getting even worse merely standing around there, conversing with her. Though he thought of other ways of revenge, put bluntly, he didn't think of twisting Axel's mission back on himself and using him to their advantage. But half his mind was too tired to think of anything, really. "His situation requires that he accepts such help as he finds. However, I should think that he may be a little suspicious if we were to turn around and offer this to him, considering our... 'Actions' today. Besides, after your... 'Little performance'... There is no guarantee that we will ever be graced with his presence again. Don't you agree, Larxene?"

"Hmph. Sure. Whatever." She said dully, as if he'd just come and rained on her parade. Which, metaphorically speaking, he had.

For a short while afterwards, she examined the man in front of her. Specifically, his expression. After she had finished talking, he'd begun to put his hand to his forehead again. This time his whole hand was fixed against his face, and he groaned and grimaced in pain on certain occasions. She blinked a couple of times.

"...Headache?" She soon enquired curtly.

He didn't respond to her directly. Instead, he sort of asked, above the high-pitched noise that had started to resound in his ears. "Do you... Hear that?"

"...Hear what?" This time she was the one not catching on.

The blonde man winced. The noise was getting louder, and the pitch was rising. He almost moved his hand from his forehead to cover his ears, but the sound wasn't in the room. It was in his... _Mind_. And it was becoming unbearable. Asides from which, it was making the headache much worse... When he came to realise this, he also realised that it was actually part of the headache itself. His clutches at his face were in vain, though there was little else he could do.

She faltered. "...A-Are..."

Yet her faltering had no effect. At that point she was just a blur in his vision, thrown out of focus, before the aching of his head, the screeching of the noise, and the tiredness of his body all took their toll at the same time. He lost his balance, stumbling a few times, before his vision became a blank darkness and he was thrown to his knees onto the wooden floor below.

"...Urgh...!!"

She spoke his name, once; in quite a stern voice. She had little idea of what was going on, yet slid herself off the counter and took a step towards him. After which she knelt down at his side, trying to see what the problem was. But all she could see was that he was twisting his face in pain, and holding his head with his left hand. His right arm was holding him up whilst he was on his knees... But even that had to give out sooner or later.

The noise. The high-pitched noise... The headache and the fatigue were suddenly gone, but the noise remained, screaming aloud... Everything – except that – had suddenly disappeared for him.

Everything was... Dark... Everything had suddenly become a warm, comforting darkness.

His arm and knees gave way, and his body collapsed. But with all the strength she could possibly muster, Larxene caught him, just before he hit the floor completely.

"Nnnggghh! Goddammit, Vexie!!" She grumbled, her eyes wide and shocked... _Angered_.

It took a few moments – her upper body strength against his weight – but she then managed to turn him over onto his back and rested his motionless body down to the floor again. After which she leaned over him. His eyes were lidded, and his lips parted very slightly. He was breathing, but out cold. His chest rose and fell almost as much as hers was from the shock. In aggravation, she grasped and shook his shoulders on which his head was wilted briskly a few times, in hopes that he would snap out of it. And when he didn't, she tried again. And again. And only then was she convinced that he wasn't going to wake up.

She dropped him back to the floor, and sighed in exasperation; retracting herself from where she was knelt over him. Wasn't _she _the one who was supposed to be ill?

For once, if only for that moment or so, she actually wished Aerith was around. It was times like this she knew too well that irony had a horrible way of twisting its vile head and biting her in the ass. Comeuppance, indeed.

* * *

The brunette had been staring at the slammed door for some prolonged moments. There was an insoluble expression on her face, yet her eyes looked as if they were in expectancy of something. As a matter of fact, after the door had been shut, she was expecting the argument to commence. And she was expecting it to be audible.

Axel groaned into his palms as his fingers rubbed at his eyes.

_'Why is it when you're around... I end up getting hurt?'_ He asked her, to himself.

The young woman turned back around to face him again. She was about to apologise when she realised that him getting hurt wasn't her fault. Not in the slightest.

"They can both be so stubborn, sometimes." She told him in a forlorn way.

He shrugged silently. Sure, it was _their_ fault, but he couldn't really blame them. At the end of the day, it wasn't worth even trying to blame them. It was only going to make his mission harder than it already was. As dire as his situation may have seemed, there was still a little hope left. A small glint of it, at least. Larxene hadn't changed much. He was sore enough to prove that. But Vexen was a different matter. If he wasn't going to listen to the red-head, there was someone he could talk through whom he would listen to. And it seemed that someone would help him quite willingly. Yet whilst thinking this over, he did wonder _why _she was willing.

When there was no response from him, she spoke up again. "What will you do now?"

He exhaled a short groan, and then shook his head. "If they're not gonna listen, I'm basically fucked. It's not like I've got anywhere else to go, exactly."

Aerith brought her fingers to her chin in thought.

"Well... If there are still Heartless around... What about helping Sora and his friends again?"

Ah. Sora. Obviously acquainted with this 'Restoration Committee'. That didn't come as a surprise. He had so many friends in each of the many worlds, the Keyblade master. But then, there was one question that the brunette's statement happened to raise...

"Sure, but they'd be pretty surprised to--" He said in an almost cautious way, before coming to an abrupt halt. "W-Wait... How do you know I..."

She shook her head to stop him mid-sentence.

"About a year ago, Sora and his friends came to see us. They came to tell us about how their final journey in the realm of the Nobodies. I think... I think he told us about you, then."

Axel looked downwards into his lap.

"He thinks of you as an ally." She continued. "You could--"

"Sorry." He said quietly, bluntly, and callously. "I can't."

The young woman frowned. "Oh..."

There was a long silence that followed. The red-head never looked upwards. After the previous events, Merlin and Cid had a short conversation amongst themselves, and then gone back inside, shutting their door. Aerith's thoughts were mixed – half her mind was focused on the house behind them, expecting an argument to arise soon between the two ex-Nobodies that were in there. The other half was thinking about the young man in front of her; processing all information she knew about him. Neither Sora nor Vexen or Larxene had really described him when ever they spoke of him, and it was then that she realised that he looked nothing like she imagined him. It was clear from his different relationships with said three that he wasn't a bad person. But were it perceived in that way, it made Vexen and Larxene seem like bad people. She didn't want to believe that, as much as she was beginning to. She couldn't... She knew of their membership within the Thirteenth Order, the same Thirteenth Order that once presented themselves as an enemy. But she knew that deep down they weren't bad people – not any more, at least.

And then she recalled what had happened in Ansem's study that day again. The pain, the fear, the sadness returned... And then she looked towards Axel again.

"Say, do you feel like going for a walk?" She asked.

He glanced towards her. _'A walk?'_

"If you're up to it, of course." She continued, smiling her sickly-sweet smile, designed to cover up the pain, fear and sadness that had recurred, again.

The red-head looked at her smiling at him in that way, and he forced himself to speak up her, "...You're being too kind. That's not a good thing, when dealing with our kind. I murdered Vexen, after all. You know that, don't you?"

Her smile decreased considerably in size.

"For that... I'm grateful." Her voice sounded more serious than he had ever heard it. She was also quieter, as if she didn't want anyone else to hear her.

The young man scowled in confusion. Grateful? That was unexpected.

"Sorry." She continued in response to his expression. "It does sound strange. But, I thought that maybe if you hadn't... Maybe Vexen would never have ended up in this world, alive. Maybe I wouldn't have ever met him."

Axel thought it over. It made some sense, at least – and at least now a couple more pieces fit together. Maybe that was the case, and maybe he'd actually done Vexen more of a favour than just 'letting him off the hook' from the curse of being a Nobody.

As he had been thinking about this, Aerith had looked deplorably downwards to her lap, and clenched her fists gently in her skirt. She felt her eyes burning, tears beginning to form at the edges, but she held them back as best as she could.

"But, I... I know _he_ doesn't see it that way. That's why I wanted to talk to him, for you..." She strained her voice, trying her hardest not to make it shake.

"You've got guts, involving yourself with the Organization, I'll give you that." He told her, smirking slightly. "I wonder what Xemnas'd think if he knew you were tryin' to hinder his plans?"

"...Hinder?" She repeated under her breath.

"Like I said, all I care about is regrouping the Organization. If I joined Sora's cause, I'd be breaking my contract. I can't do that, not this time."

She furrowed her eyebrows, the pang of sadness swelling within her.

"I... Guess not, huh?" She sighed.

There was a pause that followed, but strangely, it didn't seem awkward. At least, not as awkward as either of them expected it to be.

Aerith picked her voice as well as her mood up, and smiled again, looking towards the red-head.

"So... About that walk..." She said.

To this, Axel sprung up to his feet, as if he hadn't just been kicked – hard – by Larxene. He bent over and collected his possessions together from the floor. Meanwhile, the brunette also pulled herself up. She brushed her skirt down, flattening out the pleats, and then walked onwards, in the general direction of the top area of town, with her hands folded behind her back. The young man followed a step or so behind, with an understandable limp.

"You could... Tell me about Roxas."

This woman was poking her nose in business that definitely wasn't hers. He didn't want to tell her about Roxas. He didn't want her to know anything that she didn't already know about the Nobodies. It was for her own good, after all. Besides, he very much doubted Vexen wanted her to know anything more than she knew already. As if he could piss him off even more...

"Guess Sora didn't tell you." He said.

She shook her head gently. "He told me a few things about him. But I'm sure you've got a different perspective. You and he are best friends, after all, right?"

There was another silence between them. Through this, the red-head picked up his pace, and walked past Aerith.

"Right. So there's nothing more to tell you." He grumbled in a stoic tone.

She smiled further, into what would otherwise be a smirk, were it not on _her_ face.

"Oh, is that so?"

Roxas. Roxas. _Roxas_. That Goddamn kid was so easily deceived by Ansem the Wise that it hurt just thinking about it. It hurt before, when he didn't have a heart. He didn't know why, but it did. And if it hurt when he didn't have a heart, it was bound to hurt so much more when he did. Which was very true. They'd told each other that they would meet again in the next life, the last time that they had been together.

_'Silly... Just because **you **have a next life...'_

Roxas was returned to Sora, bound to live the Keybearer's life with him. But if Axel knew one thing, it was that Xemnas would never go back on his word with this. The Superior was going to get him; he had been assured Roxas as his reward. And so, he'd do whatever it took. Whatever it took to see him again.

They were now strolling through the borough with the brunette one step behind him. When she received no response yet again, she could only think of one thing to say.

"You know, you're not at all like I thought you would be."

Her surrender was surprisingly easy. But fair enough. He glanced over his shoulder momentarily.

"Sure." He murmured.

She quickened her steps again so that she was now walking next to him, peering upwards so that they had eye contact.

"It's strange. I thought I'd know everything about the Nobodies after living with two of them for a year. But they hardly ever talk about the Thirteenth Order." She continued.

"...Hmph. I don't blame 'em." He said, looking ahead and not allowing his eyes to meet with hers.

Her voice decreased in pitch. "Life there was... That bad, was it?"

The red-head rolled his eyes and parted his lips as if he were sighing, but no sound came out. This woman really loved to talk, that was for sure.

"It wasn't 'life'. Nobodies don't 'live'." He told her.

"Oh... I see. Nothing to be, yet still in existence, right?"

She knew the basis of it, that was clear. But what did it matter, anyway? They were no longer Nobodies, after all. Clearly that was irrelevant to her at that time, however.

He exhaled. "Sure. Something like that."

Aerith stopped walking, and let him go on ahead again. She frowned, and placed her hands on her hips as if she were about to scold him for being so unelaborate. But when he also stopped, to turn and face her, he raised an eyebrow, as she had folded her arms and smiled her warm smile again.

"The Heartless have gone now, anyway." She said, slipping off topic again. "Thanks for helping out."

"Don't mention it." Axel told her in a deep monotone.

The brunette shook her head. "Uh-uh. You fought on our side; for the town. That warrants a thank you."

He still couldn't think of a valid reason as to why Xemnas had sent the Heartless into Radiant Garden. And it wasn't like he had the Munny to take a Gummi Ship back to Twilight Town, cross the divide between to The World That Never Was, burst through the castle, find the Superior and ask why. The ticket from Twilight Town to Radiant Garden had actually cost five-hundred Munny – or for a better phrase, all the Munny that he had on him at the time. Currently he only had the fifty Munny that Vexen had given to him earlier that day, seeing as how Xemnas never actually provided him with any. Nor could he use the portals of darkness to manoeuvre through worlds any more. At any rate, thinking it over, it might have been a bad move fighting Xemnas's Heartless, especially for the purpose he was serving. It was just another way to try to get into Vexen's good books, and in the end it didn't turn out as planned anyway.

She paced further on, walking straight past him. He watched with a blank face and narrow eyes as she did so, as she headed towards the exit of the borough's winding street, where the uneven rows of houses ended and the area opened out onto the marketplace. She stopped there, and he remained a few yards behind her.

"Aren't you upset?" He asked, in speculation of her apparent happiness.

She pivoted, showing him a slightly surprised expression. "Upset?"

"About Vexen." He added.

Instead of her expression turning from a surprised one to her usual smiling one, she steadily looked down to the cobblestone ground which was still coated with a frosty glitter. By that time both of them were too used to the chilly air that it wasn't of concern to either of them. Her eyes were heavy and saddened, and her lips twitched into a similar frown. As soon as she thought she'd removed that incident from her mind, she was reminded of it again.

She nodded once.

"But..." She said, before looking up towards him again. "Does it... Bother you? If it doesn't bother you, then... It shouldn't bother me. Right?"

Axel crossed his arms over his chest.

"If I let it bother me, I'd just be working backwards. 'Sides, I've seen him do far worse than that."

Worse? The brunette didn't know if he was trying to lower her spirits on purpose by saying that. She removed any thoughts of it from her mind and attempted a smile, but it came across as wry.

"A-Alright. I see."

Since they had reached the end of the borough, she decided that was maybe enough for the walk. She predicted that he was probably cold, and probably still in pain from before (though hiding it pretty well).

"Maybe this walk wasn't such a good idea after all." She said with a slight laugh, lifting her own spirits again. "I'm freezing. Wanna head back?"

She made that sound like a real question, which it may well have been, but she didn't give him time to respond. She had already begun walking back the way they came, past him again, with her hands folded behind her back. Again he followed in a limp.

"I hope they haven't trashed the house. I worry when the two of them are unsupervised. They could tear the place apart!" She joked.

And she may have just been joking about it, but in reality, that was one of the last things possible...

* * *

Everything was dark. Everything had suddenly become a warm, comforting darkness.

_'...Even.'_

No, not darkness... Just, _nothingness_. Blank, endless nothingness.

_'...Even.'_

But the warmth and comfort were about to end.

_'...Even!'_

After all, light and darkness were fleeting, but nothingness was never-ending...

_'I know you can hear me, Even.'_

He didn't know where he was. He had passed out, but fallen into this strange world of nothingness where a deep voice was apparently addressing him. A voice that sounded familiar, but was too loud, and had too much of an echo for him to distinguish it whilst still trying to tune into the content of what was being said.

_'...That... Is __**not**__ my name.' _He thought sharply. He was thinking aloud, somehow, into this blank dream, if that was what it was.

_'But it is. I speak though the data that was once encoded into his heart, which he is now in possession of, once again.' _The voice had a bland tone, which against the constant echo was almost unbearable to hear. _'But I understand. After all, I went by a false name myself, for a long time.'_

_'... ...Who are you?'_

There was a long pause of utter silence before the voice returned. _'I do not know myself, for sure. Let us say that I am a piece of data, wandering the reaches of the Unknown. My name is of no importance.'_

Time seemed to pass by quickly... If time was actually valid within a void of nothingness; if that was really what it was. He thought there to be minutes of prolonged silence, but in fact, it was mere seconds.

_'This is not a dream, Even. Do not think of it as a dream. This is a means of communication. Think of it as such.'_

Oh, but it was a dream. He was asleep, and his subconscious was creating this scene. That was a dream, no matter if someone was talking to him through it...

_'I come with a request.'_

...No matter if someone was interrogating him through it.

_'A very simple request.'_

But it wasn't simple. Not in the slightest. It wasn't out of the question, but the whole thing was far too complicated to ever label as 'simple', never mind 'very simple'.

_'I ask you to accompany the man named Axel on his mission to unite the Organization.'_

The space of nothingness was cold, bleak and suffocating; the atmosphere was too heavy to move. He couldn't feel his body. Hell, he didn't even know if his body was even _there_. He thought to outstretch his hand to see it in front of him, but saw nothing. Still, nothing. _Always_ nothing.

_'...And why? Why do you think I should aid him?'_

_'I, myself, am to owe him something. Something he holds very dear. Yet I am no longer of your world; no longer human. There is no way that I can carry out this task. Because of this, you must repay my debt to him for me.'_

There was a moment where he thought he was going to feel enraged by what he had just been told. But... He couldn't feel _anything_. Not angered, not upset, not even amused. Not a single emotion emerged.

_'...Why ask of this now, after I had begun to consider it? So that I would change my motive?'_

_'That is correct, Even. You will not follow her decision. It may not be at first, but you will soon realise that you cannot take revenge on a man whom has done you no wrong. He did not kill you, yet freed you from the burden of being a Nobody. And now, you are alive and well. And like me, you are in his eternal debt.'_

This was ludicrous. In debt? Of _Axel_? But this voice, whoever or whatever it was, was lurking inside his heart; surely blocking out the emotions that he should have been able to feel. And from what had been said, it seemed that this being could see into his thoughts and memories. He wanted to be nothing short of furious, but he could only _want _it. In a way, it was almost like being a Nobody again, unable to feel but wanting to feel. Badly.

_'...Get out. Get out of my heart.'_

He tried to seem angered. He knew he probably couldn't fool the voice, but he had to make a bid for this interrogation to stop.

_'Deny it as much as you will, but from this point onward, that shall be your purpose.'_

_'...My purpose is **mine** to determine.'_

Non-existent time ticked away, but there was no response from the booming voice before he left the void of nothing.

It seemed the unknown being had left... And his dream had ended.

* * *

_A/N: I'm still slipping in my opinion. Anyway, I hope you all had a good Christmas/Winter break/New Year etc. This is my first update of 2009... Maybe I can finish by the end of the year...? Hehehe!_

_Erm, I wasn't too keen on this chapter. It seems like a silly filler. And it seems silly... In general. Eeesh. Oh, well, anyway, we'll be out of Radiant Garden in the next chapter. The next world is a surprise, totally. But you can try and guess if you want! We're actually still in the process of naming the 412-mobile (aka, their Gummi Ship)._

_Well, I rolled over to 400 hits. But whatever. Please leave a review! Please? We've actually run out of Dreamhares... Lol._

_TTFN! Luffles you! (Especially if you've made it this far!)_

_**Nweezle**_


	8. Chapter Eight

**Undying Hearts:  
****The Revenant Saga**

_Please bring an open mind for the following chapter. It helps. Please believe me. Also, please read the author note at the end, it's got some fairly important things in it!_

_Just because I haven't said so yet, thanks to Insanecat6 and leg et lacrima for their reviews, and also thanks to a couple of people whom I cannot currently name - due to the dates and my lack of memory - for the alerts. I think you're awesome though. Really. And I hope you're enjoying this story._

_This chapter took a couple of rewrites before I was happy with it. Hence the lateness. It also took some hacking at Axel's dialogue so it actually seemed SOMEWHAT in-character for him. Hence the lateness... Again... Why does Axel have to be the main character!? Bah! Why couldn't it be someone with a personality that doesn't change throughout the games!? Like **NAMINÉ. **WHY COULDN'T NAMINÉ BE THE MAIN CHARACTER!? SHE'S SO MUCH EASIER TO WRITE._

_You can so totally tell I'm struggling with writing Axel. Darn it. Darn it all to heck! Though, I **did **read a guide on writing fan fiction, and it said not to have your characters **too **in-character, just enough so they're as people know them, but not enough that it becomes uninteresting. Hope I've got the balance right... Opinions, please? The problem with Axel is that he's two-faced, and in CoM is considerably different to in KH2 – because in KH2 he's intent on getting Roxas back, which is probably the same side of him I'm using for this fic. Plus, he has a **heart**. Let's bear that in mind. I also watched (well, skimmed through parts of) Advent Children, mainly Reno's scenes, in hopes it would give me some idea of how to write Axel correctly. It may be naïve of me to think Axel plus a heart equals Reno, but I'm so desperate to get him in-character that I have very little choice. However, he and Rude are such... Comical and secondary characters in that movie that it's hard to really be able to use his persona for Axel in a serious context. I think the best thing for me to do next is to find some well-written FFVII Reno-centric fan fiction for inspiration. Especially since Advent Children was such little help. Oh, God, Aerith with Mena Suvari's voice makes me GAG. Mandy Moore all the way, thank you very much._

_Well, erm... Anyway... Enough of this horrifically long rant... On with the story!_

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

"Larxene?"

When both the minute and second hands of the kitchen clock that ticked away in the shrill silence hit the number twelve and the hour hand hit the number ten, it had been almost seventeen hours exactly since Vexen had passed out on the previous day. As usual, the blonde woman had been up since six that morning, and at half-past ten had returned from the Gummi ship station after checking everything concerning the ship and the task at hand that day over with Cid there – on her own, for the first time in their 'partnership'. She had returned to wait for her male counterpart, but he had yet to emerge from his room. The last time she had seen him was when she had, somehow, managed to drag him up the stairs and dump him on his bed. No one had seen him since; no one had gone to check on him. It almost seemed patient of her to be waiting there, sat in the kitchen (as Axel and Aerith happened to be sat in the front room; in fact the house hadn't been deadly silent – occasionally the two of them held short conversations, the silence just took place in the awkward intervals between these, not that the blonde was really paying much, if any, attention to them), and strumming her fingers on the kitchen table very slowly – each finger in time with the stroke of the ticking clock. It was repetitive, albeit time consuming, yet she had been at it so long it was happening subconsciously. But when the brunette entered, and spoke, she stopped. And looked up.

"Hm?" She mumbled in response with a slight glare. She didn't really appreciate her interrupting her session of subconscious strumming and blank thoughts, as pointless as the exercise proved to be.

Aerith stood in the arched doorway, at a safe distance from where Larxene was sat at the table.

"You'll go check on Vexen, won't you?" She asked with caution.

The blonde shut her eyes and frowned. "_Excuse_ me? Are you asking me to do your dirty work?"

The other girl shook her head briskly; defensively. "No, I... I just thought maybe you would rather do it than me..."

Her eyes shot open, with what should have been a harsh glower, but instead was a look of harsh amusement.

"I'd rather do it!?" She scoffed whilst laughing.

To this, Aerith furrowed her eyebrows and placed her hands on her hips.

"I don't see what's so funny." She told her in the sternest voice she could muster.

This merely caused Larxene to continue her giggling fit, in particular after seeing her expression and hearing her speak in such a manner. "Hahaha, oh, Rissy! Everything about it is funny!"

Yet the brunette's expression and tone didn't flinch.

"Perhaps I missed the joke..."

With a gratified smirk, her laugh ceased, and she rose from her seat.

"I guess you did." The blonde said, still perked up.

Aerith watched her as she walked across the kitchen to one of the cupboards, her frown worsening. She wanted to make it apparent that she didn't appreciate how she was acting towards her; how she was reacting to a simple request. Didn't she care about Vexen? She had only seen her act to her 'true nature', as this side of her was known to be, a few times before. Normally, Larxene kept out of her way, and if that wasn't possible, she would merely take a stoic stance, turn her back and ignore her. The most time they had ever spent together was when the brunette had stayed by her bedside, stabilising her condition with curative spells when she had caught the Balfu, and for most of that time she was too ill to speak. Her (somewhat frequent) attempts to be friends with her across the past year had proven futile. Even if she hadn't experienced it much before, she knew well that the blonde was a callous and caustic person – and despite the difference in her personal opinions of the two ex-Nobodies, Vexen could sometimes be very much the same: cold-blooded, bitter, insensitive. She suddenly felt as if the question marks that came with the both of them were going to be answered, and she wouldn't like the results...

...But she couldn't just abandoned what she believed – that there was even the _slightest _bit of good in all people. Hearts were made up of both darkness _and _light, after all.

Larxene stood on her toes to reach to the very top of the cupboard, pulling out the first aid kit (which was really just a collection medical items and the odd Potion) and placing it down on the counter below.

She sighed aloud. "Well, if you _really _don't want to do it, I suppose I don't have a choice."

So, she did care, after all.

Aerith made the mistake of looking towards her, smiling.

"Thanks."

"You're afraid of him, after yesterday, aren't you, Rissy?" The blonde spoke up again with a sour smirk whilst rummaging aloud through the box, wiping the sweet, yet weak smile completely off the brunette's face. Intentionally. "That's _really _why you want me to go, right?"

She shook her head once again. "No. T-That's not why..."

"Haha, that's rich of you." Larxene continued, after finding what she needed – a bandage – in the first aid kit. "Very rich."

Leaving the bandage on the counter momentarily, she picked up the box, stood on her toes again and slid it back onto the top shelf.

"I guess even _you_ have your weaknesses." She said, scooping up the bandage again. It was that weakness that had been shown that she wanted to disclose and worsen. The more the brunette kept away from the two of them, the more she _feared _them than thought of them as friends, the better.

"...I'm only human." Aerith muttered bleakly.

The blonde walked in the direction of the doorway, deciding that she'd already had enough of her.

"_Sure_. I'll keep that in mind."

Once she had walked past her, into the other room, the brunette clenched her eyes shut and released a heavy, yet silent sigh, almost of relief. In fact, it may well have been of relief. She had sworn to herself that she could put the events of the previous day far behind her, but perhaps it was easier said than done, after all.

Larxene, meanwhile, had completely ignored Axel as she made her way to the staircase. And he completely ignored her. They hadn't spoken since they 'met' again, and it seemed that both of them preferred it that way – for the time being, at least. She hadn't brought up her offer yet; she was waiting until Vexen was there to do so. The only time the red-head flinched was when he was completely sure she was at the top of the stairs, and could hear the creaking of the floorboards on the landing. Sat on the couch with his arms folded, without a word he glanced over his shoulder towards the empty staircase. A few seconds passed as he (pointlessly) examined them, and then he turned his head a little, and watched Aerith as she stood like a statue in the archway. From what he could see, she was frozen, and wouldn't move an inch.

He wondered if they actually knew conversations held in the kitchen could be heard in the front room. It just so happened that he had overheard everything that had been said in there, right from where he was sitting. After a while, after she still hadn't moved at all, he looked away, frowning.

It wasn't like he hadn't warned her about it...

* * *

When Vexen awoke that day from the eccentric encounter, or 'dream', the first thing he took in were his surroundings. They were familiar, but different from what he last remembered. He last remembered being in the kitchen, with Larxene. And as it happened, to him, she was still there. But they were in his room, and she was knelt by the side of the bed that he was lying on. He had to blink a couple of times to clear his vision before she came fully into focus, to which he almost immediately jolted up in surprise.

She frowned a little. "Morning."

Morning? He turned his head away from her and looked towards the window on the opposite wall. The thick curtains were shut – he preferred to have his room very dark, especially in summer when the sun would rise very early in the morning – but there was a pale light outside that seeped through at the edges, giving the room a slight luminosity. And since it was winter, he could tell even from the lack of a clock in his room that he hadn't woken up at the crack of dawn, at least. That was a change – normally Larxene's ridiculously loud alarm would awaken him by screeching from the adjacent room at exactly six in the morning, so that she would have time before work begun to do her feminine tasks, such as spend over half-an-hour in the shower, hence wasting most of the hot water supply, and spend another hour or so after that drying her hair, and then another hour on deciding what she was going to wear for that day. She was, in fact, wearing a different outfit from what he recalled of the previous day – a short-sleeved ashen-coloured blouse and a pair of maroon jeans. Additionally, her hair was back in its usual antennae-like style, and to a similar extent, he felt a physical weight off his shoulders from what he last remembered, finding his heavy coat had been removed and left on top of the bedclothes next to him, and his glasses had been taken off, folded, and placed on the side table.

They both sat in silence as he spent a short period of time recalling as much as he could, then and there – about the events including Aerith, Axel and the Heartless, up until when he had passed out. Then, he tried remembering the 'dream'.

_'This is not a dream, Even. Do not think of it as a dream. This is a means of communication. Think of it as such.'_

He felt angry from what had been 'said', that was certain, which was odd considering that through the duration of the dream he couldn't feel anything. However, he could only shake it off. It was a dream. Just a dream. No matter what it was about, or how paranormal or strange an encounter with that unknown voice it was, it was a _dream_. Realistically, there was little to be maddened about from a sequence created in his own subconscious mind. Whatever – or whoever – he had encountered had seemed to have now left his heart. He was still in control of himself there and then – of both his body, and his heart, and his actions – his actions concerning Axel, especially. That he assured himself.

"Guess what I've been doing whilst _you've _been sleeping in." Larxene spoke up.

Vexen propped himself up on his forearms. "...As it would appear... You have been watching me sleep."

She pulled a face in response to his reply. As a matter of fact, she had been there for less than five minutes before he had woken up. Well, maybe four minutes or so knelt _did _count as watching him sleep... Not that she would ever admit to it.

"Kcch! You _wish_!" She spat, before neutralising her voice. "...Nngh, anyway, here..."

In her hands was the folded bandage she had taken from the first aid kit; she placed it on the bed next to him.

"It's for your wrist." The young woman explained, smiling (in a false way). "Now, say 'thank you' like a good boy."

His wrist? He lifted his right arm up a little, bringing it into his vision. He very much expected to see exactly what he saw – the horrendous burn that encircled his wrist almost all the way around.

"...I see little point." He told her.

She rolled her eyes. "_Now_ you're just showing off. Seriously. It's gross. Cover it up."

Without putting any weight on his right arm, he managed to sit up fully.

"There is no need. I expect that a flesh wound such as this should prove easy for Aerith to heal."

It came as no surprise that, to this, Larxene crinkled her nose and placed her hands on her hips.

"Because 'Aerith' is your answer for _everything_." She said harshly, rolling her eyes. "But what should I expect?"

He watched her as she exhaled and pulled herself to her feet.

"Working."

As she walked at a steady pace around to the other side of the bed, he watched her, blinking.

"Excuse me?"

"_Working_." She repeated, in a sharper tone than the previous time, then proceeding to speak angrily. "I've been working my ass off, down at the station, when _you've _had a lie-in. I don't know about you, Vexie, but I'm pretty sure _I'm _the one who's supposed to be ill."

He frowned. "You _were _ill, to be precise. Before yesterday afternoon, of course. And I can safely say that since you have indeed been working, the Wellspring water has now cured you."

She grunted.

"Yes. I know that." She said, rolling her eyes. She _did_ know, she was just highlighting the fact that he had passed out on her, leaving her to do most of their work – something she had actually gone and done, even if she didn't exactly appreciate it.

Next, she leant over the bed, heaving up his coat.

"I'm borrowing this." She announced, whilst dragging it off the sheets.

Yet in response he scowled, and shook his head. "I sincerely hope you are not serious."

"Well, let's see. First of all, with the rate of Munny I get in comparison to what you get, what goes into the restoration funds and what Cid gets for mostly sitting on his ass all day, I'm afraid I have to cut back on luxuries such as 'suitable winter clothing'. Second of all, _you_ can't even get cold."

Vexen groaned quietly, and then watched her walk back across the room, in the direction of the doorway. Perhaps it was for the best, she probably wouldn't leave the house without a coat. And what she said happened to be true, she didn't have one of her own.

She looked back towards him and smirked. "Be grateful I asked first. I could have taken it last night."

He thought her words over in silence. She never exactly _asked_. Yet she was adamant, and either way, the 'last night' part held more importance in his mind. He had never thought about what had gone on after he'd passed out, and what he presumed would have been Aerith's actions were somewhat revealed in what she had said.

"You...?" He began.

"...Dragged you up here last night?" She interjected. "Yeah, that was me."

For a moment, she broadened her smile, whilst pulling on his coat.

"You're welcome." Her words were almost sarcastic, just as she had said them before. To this, she opened the door and left back down the hallway swiftly.

He was surprised, to say the least. After not thinking about it, but subconsciously presuming, probably, that Aerith had put him to bed... It sounded like something she would take care of. Then again, he hadn't seen Aerith since the previous day. Larxene had actually done it, which was all the more surprising. He didn't even know if the brunette was still upset with him now. The smouldered skin on his wrist was enough of a reminder of the previous day alone. Instead of taking the bandage and wrapping it around his wrist, he moved it to the beside table, before pushing himself off the bed. He wanted to find some words to thank the blonde woman with, but she had left before he had even thought about it. He sighed through his nose, and stepped back across the floor to the door. Then, after shaking his head a couple of times to clear his thoughts, he shut it.

* * *

Axel didn't quite know how, but several minutes after Larxene had gone upstairs, Aerith had brightened up. Again. She had done something (he assumed she had cleaned up) in the kitchen and then come back into the living room, and was staring out of the main window that was situated next to the front door at the cinereous, unchanged sky, like there was a reason to be happy at such poor weather. Though, he was getting used to her. He had started to talk more to her, and find her more of a pleasant person, rather than pushy or irritating, like he had thought in the first place. And unlike _some _people, she – and a few of the other members of the Restoration Committee – actually treated him like a human being. It was a change being around someone as warm and kind-hearted as she was. A good change; it was a rare occurrence that he got to be around someone even the slightest bit as nice as her.

"You know, Axel, the weather forecast says it might snow soon." She smiled, turning towards him. Though then her expression turned serious. "Though, the flowers don't grow in this cold weather. I hope spring comes quickly."

Occasionally, the red-head had glanced at the time and date displayed on a huge clock system in the centre of the Gummi ship station, during his 'visit' there. The previous day, in Radiant Garden (since the days, and times, of course, would vary between worlds – which was something to do with the position of the sun in comparison to each world – he hadn't really payed much attention whenever it was explained to him), had been January the Ninth. Hence, that very day was January the Tenth. The world was still in the middle of winter.

And she had already told him how much she loved the flowers during the spring and summer months, after digressing on her apology for how barren the house was without any floral décor, which was a side-effect of her apology for making him sleep on the couch overnight, as she thought that there would have been no spare rooms in their house at that time, only to find one member of the Restoration Committee was not in Radiant Garden and he could have slept in his room. He didn't really care – he was just happy he wasn't sleeping rough (on the uncomfortable plastic seats within the Gummi ship station) like the night before that again.

"...The marketplace is empty today." She continued, with a melancholy air about her. "And so is the station. It's because of the Heartless attack, yesterday. No one wants to go outside..."

It was apparent that in that year after the fall of the Thirteenth Order Radiant Garden had been safe; completely Heartless-free, which was probably the reason for the population increase – apparently it was the world at the centre of the Gummi ship trade and transit system, go figure. The station in Twilight Town was less than half the size of the one in Radiant Garden, but when he had the time to think about it, whilst playing the role of a hobo stranded in the station, Axel had thought it to be due to the lack of space in Twilight Town – after all, Radiant Garden had a lot of space for expansion, considering the size of the blue masses of mountainous land beyond the town. Twilight Town's Gummi ship station was constructed underground, underneath the train station. Radiant Garden's Gummi ship station was constructed separately – however, he had learnt that it was a rule that, to prevent air traffic and similar problems, the all hangars for all stations were built underground, and the ships would pass through a huge gate constructed on the side of a world. He still wondered how these stations had been built in just the space of the year that he had been dead, but then he wondered if he was thinking too much into it...

Ordinary people were no longer afraid to venture out into the world beyond their own homes, until that day when Xemnas had released them, when no one could ever have expected it.

There was a discussion, the previous evening, over the street at Merlin's house, about how many people had lost their hearts in that attack. Axel was there, but he didn't say anything. He didn't even listen that much. He had just kept to himself.

"You'll be going with them today, right?" She asked.

He shrugged. "Beats me."

The red-head hadn't thought about much beyond that morning. Earlier on, Aerith had offered to wash his clothes for him. In the meantime, he was wearing a plain white T-shirt, a pair of black leather drainpipe trousers and a black, short-sleeved leather jacket, all of which seemed far too big on him; distinctive clothes belonging to the member of the Restoration Committee that hadn't been present so far. Leon, they had called him. It wasn't that the garments were too big, so to speak, in fact, he and Axel were about the same height. It just so happened that whereas he was quite muscular and filled the clothes well, the red-head was incredibly thin, which was clear from how spindly his bare arms were, protruding from the sleeves of the jacket, how huge the shirt looked hanging off his chest, and how much the trousers relied on the belt to keep them up when he stood. The brunette had given him Leon's clothes in exchange for his own, and let him use the shower in his bathroom, and would have let him sleep in his room.

Apparently Leon was out of Radiant Garden on 'important business' concerning the Keybearers. Again, he hadn't heard much about it, but he figured it was something to do with the Heartless attack. The Keybearers had been in Radiant Garden, but had left the world with Leon before Axel had the chance (or, the misfortune) to bump into them.

She was about to speak up again, but the landing began to creak at that moment, and so did the stairs. Larxene came down quickly, whilst pulling on the heavy black winter coat that belonged to Vexen. As soon as the blonde woman reached the lower floor, Aerith sprung up from her seat, and turned towards her.

"Is he okay?" She asked, just before Larxene had made her way across the front room and disappeared into the kitchen, saying nothing. Her only course of action was to pursue her.

There was one thought that only really crossed the red-head's mind when she had left the room. Now, the brunette was faced with speaking to Larxene, and the thought of venturing into the kitchen and helping her out just happened to cross his mind. Maybe if he stood up for Aerith, it might _just _go down well with Vexen...

The blonde woman was sat back in her previous seat at the table when the brunette entered.

"Larxene? Is he okay?" She repeated.

She earned a glower in response. It took a while before any words followed.

"Depends how you want to define 'okay'." She snorted. "He's up and about, be grateful for that."

And she really _was _grateful. She smiled and nodded.

"Mmm... Thanks." She said in a warm voice.

"Now, go be a good girl and play with the traitor." Larxene spoke up again, waving her hand at the other girl dismissively, as if to send her back into the front room. "The less entertained he is, the more likely he is to stab someone in the back."

"Strange." Axel's voice suddenly said, as he walked into the kitchen, and stood a little way behind Aerith, his arms still folded as before. "I'm pretty sure _you're _the one who likes to do the 'stabbing', Larxene."

The blonde scowled. "Oh, yeah, that's right, _you _just like fucking up everyone's plans in any way possible."

He forced a cunning grin onto his face.

"In that case, we've something in common."

She exhaled, sounding amused, among other things. "Hmph, you know, Vexen and I were going to help you on this little 'mission' of yours, but I suppose if you won't comply, we'll just have to withdraw."

He was... Surprised at what she had said. He hadn't heard anything about this... He didn't know if they were really planning on helping him, or if she was just lying as part of her insult. It didn't matter, though. He just smirked further, and pressed on.

"Nah, I don't need you anyway." He told her.

At first, she looked taken aback by his words. She raised her eyebrows, but after a couple of seconds, pasted a humoured expression over it. She giggled in the back of her throat, before speaking in her unique tone of degrading sweetness. "Aww, poor traitor! You've forgotten your orders already! See, without me, you won't be able to unite the whole Organization. And if you can't do that – well – you can't have your precious little Roxas, can you? And wouldn't _that _be an awful shame!?"

This only caused him to appear even more gratified. "Nah, see, I don't need to convince you. As soon as I convince Vexen, you'll just come along as part of the package."

But _this _only caused _her _to raise her amusement. "Oh, is that how you see it? Well, I've got news for you, traitor – I _don't _just come along as part of the package. Got it _fucking _memorised!?"

"Eh-hem..." Aerith muttered, shifting uncomfortably as soon as Larxene began to raise her voice. "Maybe I should go..."

She pivoted and walked passed Axel as quickly as her legs would carry her (in a walk), before either of them could stop her – which they didn't. They were too focused on pissing each other off, or so it seemed.

"So, since petty charity isn't exactly your thing, if you were going to help me, what was in it for you?" He spoke up again.

"We were going to suggest that, in exchange for our help, you work for us." The blonde smirked. "Oh, but you just _had _to go and blow your chances, didn't you?"

"Like I said – I convince Vexen, and you'll just happen to come with him. Got it memorised?"

She inverted her expression, clenched her teeth, and spat, "Then go ahead and TRY, traitor! You'll only be sadly mistaken!"

"We'll see." He said, calming down after being so entertained by their conversation. "Why don't you think about this rationally? Vexen broke my nose, then tried to choke me to death, after which you came along and kicked me in the crotch. All the while, I've been pretty passive about the both of you."

"Tell me something I don't know..." She muttered, similarly now unamused. "Clearly, you need our help, and we'll give you it – on the condition that, until we have gathered the members of our beloved Organization together, and you have your Roxas back – you do exactly as we say. Now, let's remember that you're also most likely considered a traitor to many others in the Organization. You'd need us to convince them, wouldn't you? Gee, you think we're being unfair?"

Axel scowled in suspicion.

"That's all? I just... Do whatever you tell me to do?" He asked. "So, if you tell me to jump off a bridge – I'll just ask how high? Or, better yet, you tell me to quit my mission..."

She interjected by cackling loudly.

"Hah, you think that's how it works!? Now, what kind of satisfaction do you think we would get from that, huh?" She asked, sarcastically, of course.

"_Your _kind." He bluntly responded.

Aerith had meanwhile been listening (and partially watching) in on this from her seat the front room. But when Vexen happened to come downstairs, after getting changed from the previous day into a blue shirt and dark coloured trousers, carrying in his arms a collection of other items he needed from his room, she leapt up again.

"Vexen!!" She exclaimed, in the quietest voice possible, almost just mouthing his name.

"...Aer--" He could only respond with, leaving the items he was carrying on the stairs and making his way over to her.

"Please!" She interrupted him in desperation, her voice still almost a whisper. "You have to stop them! Before they start breaking things!!"

He wasn't sure what she meant at first, but then he looked towards the archway that lead to the kitchen. And frowned. And without another word to the brunette, made his way there.

"Think about it, traitor. The deal is more than fair." Larxene said, with a small smirk. "And remember, I _always_ keep my word."

"...One more thing." Axel spoke up again.

She cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? What would that be?"

He smirked, but only because what he needed to say sounded ridiculous in his head. "You've gotta stop beatin' me up. Both of you. Got it memorised?"

Vexen had listened in on those few lines, whilst stood a few yards behind the red-head. After that 'got it memorised', he finally joined the conversation.

"'Let's not allow what happened in the past to hinder the future', something like that?" He said, walking into the kitchen, past Axel (whom he startled with his speech, as he had apparently appeared from nowhere) and towards Larxene's side of the room.

The younger man shifted.

"A fine set of morals you seemed to have invoked with this heart of yours. You've defended our world of the Heartless, even though you were turning against your Superior. Yet, as much as you may wish to, you cannot please everyone." Vexen continued. "If Xemnas sees that much value in us, then he will find us himself. If what you say is true, I believe he has tricked you. Without the portals of darkness, and without the Munny to make use of the transit system with, if he had no idea Larxene and I were here, essentially he would have left you stranded. He dispatched you on an impossible mission. You would fare better without a heart, Axel. You've let yours work far ahead of your mind."

"I'm playing along." He told him. "Like I said, I don't know what Xemnas is doing with the Heartless, or why he wants the Organization back together. But as soon as I find Roxas, I won't give a rat's ass."

"But you want us to help you." Larxene added. "And, like I said, you're planning to revive the backstabbing little shit within you. Once you have what you want, you'll turn on us again."

"And why would I do that?" Axel sounded amused. "I've nothing against either of you. Any more."

"Well, _we've _something against you." The blonde woman scowled. "Heart or no heart, you're still _Axel_, the same old two-faced traitor!"

"Aren't we all?" Vexen said to her.

She gasped in response, focusing her scowl on him instead. Yet his expression was serious, and didn't flinch when she looked straight at him.

"There is little point in us being members of the Restoration Committee of Radiant Garden if history is only going to repeat itself. We will aid uniting the Organization. Once Roxas is safely 'returned', the deal ends. In the meantime, we consider you an ally, and do you no harm." He continued, before looking at Axel again. "And in exchange, you do as Larxene asks – everything we tell you to."

"Oh, but first..." Larxene spoke up, rising from her seat and taking a few steps forward so she was stood parallel to the red-head, but at a preferred distance. When she did so, the large coat she was wearing drooped over her body. Clearly it was far too big for her – the sleeves hid her hands a long way beneath them; it was fastened all the way up, but it still almost slipped off her shoulders (to stop this, she had keep a hold on the collar). It even trailed along the kitchen floor when she moved. That said, it had actually appeared too big on Vexen, too. "...You have to beg for our forgiveness! _Then_ we'll agree to help you."

There was silence. For a few moments. Axel raised his eyebrow.

"'Beg'?"

"Yes." She confirmed, showing him another malicious smirk. "Go on! Get on your knees and beg for us to forgive you, _traitor_!"

The younger man stared at her and her sickening expression for a while, before glancing over at Vexen. He appeared to be staying out of this matter at first, but he was giving him such a stoic look, he didn't quite know what was happening on his end. Eventually, he looked back at Larxene again. So, before they were going to seal the deal, as it were, he had to... Get on his knees and beg for their forgiveness?

He didn't think he had a choice... That was a recurring theme – he didn't seem to be given a choice in anything any more, really.

He took a small step forward, closer to the blonde woman. Then, there was silence. Then, he inhaled. The silence returned, as he lowered himself down to the cold kitchen floor on one knee. He then slid his other knee beneath him, whilst his palms pressed onto the surface in front of him, holding him upright. He ducked his head, and narrowed his eyes; clenching his teeth. He didn't want to see her feet (or, what was visible of her feet concealed by the coat) – he didn't want to even _think_ he was grovelling at them. His fingers curled, his nails scratching at the wooden floor.

He didn't want to have to _beg_.

But something happened, before he could think of any 'begging' words to form.

Vexen had been watching this from the sidelines. His vision was fixed on Axel, until that one moment where he looked up at the doorway... And saw Aerith. Her eyes were wide, and glassy, and she had both her hands clenched over her mouth. Initially, she was also fixated on Axel, but she then looked straight towards him. The combination of her expression and the look of sheer pain in her eyes was enough to look exactly the same as she had in Ansem's study; enough to make him think of that event. She had been so dismissive of his apology that something must have happened since he had passed out... Was it... Axel? He parted his lips, and broke their eye contact by growling and shaking his head.

"This is unnecessary." He told Larxene, stepping towards the younger man, almost standing as a barricade between the two other ex-Nobodies.

In response from the blonde woman, he received a glare. He had half expected one. But she opened her mouth to talk, only to spot something – someone – in the corner of her eye. She switched her glare directly to Aerith, freezing said brunette to the spot. To this, Vexen attempted to block their view of each other off by moving directly in front of Larxene.

"Spare us your inconsideration, it does naught but waste our time."

He turned quickly towards Axel, before she could respond. Though in a childish manner, once his back was turned, she scrunched her face up further in anger, folded her arms and stuck out her tongue in the direction of the back of his head.

"We should depart as soon as possible. Do you accept our terms?"

The red-head made his way back to his feet. He pasted another cattish smirk on his face before responding, "I thought you'd never ask."

With an thwarted groan, Larxene pushed past Vexen, colliding with his arm on purpose. He swayed a little on impact, but otherwise remained unaffected by her action, and only responded by staring at her with an extended frown as she made her way past Axel, and then past Aerith, whom moved with speed (and caution) out of her way.

"Fine, whatever. I don't care." She lied. Her lie was very blatant, even as her voice began to disappear into the front room. "Whatever we do, it'll all end the same way."

There was silence, once she swung the front door open and slammed it behind her – creating a horrific bang which made the brunette jolt in shock. The silence seemed awkward, as it had so many times before.

"Why you?" The blonde man spoke up, earning Axel's attention. The question was clearly directed at him. "Your betrayal was considered a grave matter. So why were _you_ sent to unify the Thirteenth Order?"

The red-head folded his arms. "Y'know, I wonder... How do you know I was marked a traitor, if you were long gone before it happened?"

There was another period of quietude. And a very awkward one, at that. Vexen narrowed his eyes towards his amused-looking counterpart, and was prepared to give him an answer, when Aerith broke the silence instead.

"I told him..." She murmured.

Both men looked towards her, as she paced towards the middle of the room, to stand near them.

"Well... I only said what Sora's friend Riku told us, when they were here last year." She explained. "He spent a long time in the Dark Realm. He claimed to know a lot about the Nobodies, but really, he didn't tell us very much."

She then looked towards Axel before continuing.

"The Thirteenth Order thought of you as a traitor, but Sora and his friends, they thought of you as an ally."

"So... That's how you knew about the false Twilight Town..." The red-head said, glancing back at the older man. "Anyway, like I said, I don't know why Xemnas wanted _me _to unite the whole Organization. Yeah, everyone probably hates me; yeah, I played all sides possible, just for Roxas's sake. But, y'know what? When I was in the World That Never Was, Xemnas was the only one there. Maybe I'm the first he found, and that's why."

"Yet there is still no feasible explanation as to why he will not find us all himself." Vexen stated. "He had a year to find myself and Larxene; we have been here most of that time."

Axel shrugged. "Well, err... Maybe he can't leave the World That Never Was?"

"But, didn't he activate the Heartless machine in the castle here?" Aerith enquired.

"Then I am to believe I stand corrected..." The blonde said. "He isn't tricking you, but rather _testing_ you."

"'Testing'...?" Repeated the brunette.

To the younger man, that sounded more likely... Maybe it _was _all a test. Not that he really cared, as such – after all, he only cared about his reward. But it did lead him to wonder... What was Xemnas testing him on – his loyalty to Roxas... Or his loyalty to the Organization?

"Guess he doesn't need you around to conduct 'experiments', huh?" He said in a cocky tone.

He expected Vexen to be angered in his response, but on the contrary, he only looked amused by his comment.

"Life, Axel, is an experiment in itself. One we can only know the results of through prolonged research and empirical activity. Don't you agree?"

"Cut the 'fortune cookie' crap." The red-head scoffed. "Life doesn't have results. We're born, we die. And if we're lucky, like we happened to be, we might get a second shot at it. Got it memorised? The rest is just for doing whatever we wanna do, y'know."

His words only amused the older man greater. He began to laugh in the back of his throat.

"I suppose you're very... Lucky." He told him. "That Larxene and I are aiding you in this 'test'."

Axel cocked an eyebrow. "Huh. That so?"

"Yes." He replied, slowly and eloquently.

Neither of their expressions flinched, but when the blonde looked away from the red-head after some time, to look at Aerith instead, he was surprised by her. She was... Smiling at him, with her usual sweet, warm smile.

He drew in a long breath before speaking. "Do my actions... Still trouble you, Aerith?"

She retained her smile whilst shaking her head. He felt relieved, sort of, when she did so, but he had already suspected that she had put it behind her, just by being there.

To this, he raised his right arm a little, and pulled back the loose sleeve to uncover the burn on his wrist. No words were spoken, but she then took a step forward. She knew exactly what he was asking of her, and raised both of her own hands to grip very gently onto his wound. He flinched a little – despite how careful she was about holding his wrist it still stung, a lot. A light then begun to appear between her hands and the burn. The red-head watched, recognising the warm, pale blue glow to be the same spell she had used on his broken nose. A spell that could heal any sort of injury... 'Healing Wind', she had called it. A 'Cure' element spell that was unique to her. If she could do _that_, he could only imagine what other kinds of magic she could use; perhaps he'd only seen a small fraction of it. All those incredible powers, in one young woman... It did make him wonder.

When she took her hands off the blonde's wrist, the burn was down to a red blemish, a mere scar of the wound that she had healed. He covered it (and most of his hand – due to the size of his shirt) back up with his sleeve.

"So, what made you change your mind?" Axel spoke up shortly after, earning his attention once again; he added, "About me, I mean."

Vexen brought back the look of amusement from before as he responded. "And what ever would make you think I've 'changed my mind'?"

The younger man snorted a laugh.

"Fine. Then what's in it for you? Just gettin' to order me around, like Larxene, or something else?"

Aerith brought her fingers to her chin in curiosity and thought. After hearing what the red-head had just said, something had occurred to her. "Umm, actually, Vexen, in exchange for agreeing to help Axel on her conditions, did Larxene offer _you_ anything, maybe?"

The older man was still unable to respond to both these questions – for one, he didn't exactly know the answer. Not exactly. It was probable that he had presumed Larxene's side of the deal applied to him, as well. It was their joint plot of revenge. But then, there was everything that the voice in the 'dream' had told him.

_'I ask you to accompany the man named Axel on his mission to unite the Organization.'_

Nor could he exactly get a chance to speak at this point. After hearing what Aerith had said about Larxene offering Vexen something, Axel instantly brought a bold, yet conceited grin onto his face. He twisted her words to his own amusement, holding back laughing at his own thoughts, just for a little longer. Then, he brought a clenched fist to this grin, and spluttered.

"(cough)_Blowjob!_(cough)"

Vexen's jaw almost hit the floor. His eyes widened as far as they would. His counterpart had uttered that just articulately enough for him to have heard it right – and his broad smile seemed to confirm it. Yet he didn't know what to think or do, except to just be shocked. The silence was immediate, between the grinning red-head and the dismayed blonde.

However, the silence wasn't very long. Mere seconds after he had coughed it up, in the time it took for her to realise what had been said, Aerith's hands shot upwards to cover her mouth, to suppress the hysterical laugh that would have otherwise emerged into a strained giggle. The older man kept his expression whilst turning to look at her. Her eyes were clenched shut as she chortled into her hands. Similarly, Axel began an audible laugh through his teeth, his head dropping into his quaking shoulders.

The blonde could only stand there, whilst starting to grit his own teeth in anger at his counterpart.

"A-And what the _fuck _is THAT supposed to mean!?" He barked, trying very hard to articulate the words of anger through his state of shock.

The younger man looked straight towards him, still flashing his characteristic smirk. "Ha, you know what I said! I was just jokin', anyway. No need to get pissed off! Or, so defensive..."

_'I have EVERY need to get pissed off, you vulgar little...!' _Vexen thought, before trying to snap back with the exact same words. But before he could, he was distracted by Aerith again. She had moved past him, over towards the counter behind him, her face covered by her hands as she ejected the mirth into them. She appeared to be hyperventilating, or something close.

And when she knew he was watching her, somewhat appalled at this reaction from her, she calmed down, and managed to speak up. "I-I'm... Sorry! I know I shouldn't laugh at something so juvenile, but...!"

It was probably from the lack of breath that her face had turned as pink as the ribbon tied in her hair; when she turned back to the men, trying as hard as she possibly could to neutralise her expression, the colour was visible, but cleared fast. However, the blonde hadn't noticed that he, himself, had flushed as red as Axel's hair. He didn't notice until he stormed past his counterpart into the front room. And then he blamed it on the anger.

"No, really, I was just kidding. No hard feelings, right?" The younger man pivoted, but didn't think to wipe the smirk off his face.

Vexen didn't respond. He just continued to drag himself off from the scene. To this, the red-head followed him into the other room, putting his hands up in surrender and 'apology'. Pissing him off was probably not what he needed at that time.

"...Look, I'm sorry!" He said, after a period of silence.

"Yes. I know. You've told me so countless times." The older man snapped. He then sighed, unclenching his fists and releasing the tension over the rest of his body a little. "...I tire of it. I tire of _you_."

"Shame there aren't many other ways of apologising."

Steadily, the blonde turned back to face his counterpart – looking over his shoulder at first with a disgruntled expression, before his shoulders, and then the rest of him followed. Axel was no longer smirking, but rather letting his eyes look humoured instead. They almost always looked like that, anyway.

"You think it a shame?"

The red-head cocked an eyebrow. "Y'don't want an apology?"

"Answer my question." Vexen said sharply, scowling.

"Answer mine."

A brief pause followed. They both spent the time staring at each other, as if they were both entranced by the other's glare. The older man thinned his eyes at the younger, before eventually groaning in resignation, and looking away.

"What does it matter?" He grumbled.

"Well, you're the one who asked." Axel shrugged in a defensive manner again, before changing the subject. "Anyway, I'd still like to know what made you change your mind. One day, you don't give a damn what happens to me, and suddenly, the next day, you're willing to help me? You're hardly a saint, I know that much. C'mon, something's _gotta_ be in it for you."

He watched, as his counterpart listened to his words. After which, he watched the blonde drop his head, towards the floor. His expression was vacant where perhaps a look of sorrow should have been; it seemed to the red-head at first that he wasn't willing to reply, but he kept his eyes fixed on the still man stood opposite him – intent on receiving an answer. Then, almost suddenly, Vexen raised his hand – but kept the rest of his body motionless. He brought his hand upwards in front of him, and pressed the pads of his fingers down in the centre of his chest.

The younger man thought this an acceptable answer.

"Your heart?" He enquired.

His counterpart snapped out of his (actually fairly blank) trail of thoughts. He didn't know why he had put his hand on his heart, but as soon as he realised he had, he pulled it away in a brisk motion, with another scowl and negative exhale.

"Aww, I'm touched." Axel teased, pulling his lips into another smirk.

The blonde mumbled something incomprehensible – perhaps just another angered exhale. He made his way to the staircase, where he had left a pile of his belongings.

"It has nothing to do with you." He told him, taking a seat on the bottom step.

"Oh, _sure _it doesn't." The red-head stated with both amusement and sarcasm. "What's it about then? Larxene?"

"No!" The older man retorted. He shot yet another glare at his counterpart as he shouted.

Axel didn't flinch at first, but he then spread his smirk further. He had always found it funny whenever Vexen got defensive.

Upon seeing his cattish look increase, the blonde frowned further, looked away and repeated in a quieter voice than before, wishing he hadn't given the red-head the gratification he wanted by being so harsh the first time, "...No..."

He received a chuckle in response that time. The younger man's shoulders began to palpitate in time with his laugh as they had done before. As usual, being laughed at, or something along the same lines, didn't go down well with the older man – as much as he knew that it was just part of whom his counterpart was, and he did the same thing with everyone else. He thought, after all those years spent in the Organization, having to witness him doing and saying such disrespectful things, he would be used to it.

"...Your first order, Axel..." He said, once the mirth had died down. "...Is to learn to recognise the consequences of your immaturity."

The red-head gave a cocky grin. "You want me to be boring? Like you?"

"Yes." Vexen told him brusquely. He proceeded to take his glasses from the top of the pile of items on the steps next to him.

"Well, okay then." Axel lied. He could suppress his 'immaturity', at least for a little while. After the events of the previous day, he thought about being a little more cautious as to what would do and say around his counterpart, but that didn't stop him from speaking his mind. "But only 'cause it's part of the deal."

The blonde opened his glasses, and slid them onto his face. "Very good."

"...Hey." The red-head shifted. He wandered towards the older man, whom glanced at him again, and then, lifted his hand out in front of him, offering it. "We should shake on it, right?"

For the duration of the short pause that followed, Vexen stared at the outstretched hand. He was taken aback, to say the least, at the gesture... But more than anything, he wondered if Axel was being fake about it. He did have the tendency to do that, sometimes.

"On the deal, I mean." The younger man added, just to clarify it. He cocked his wrist a couple of times, as if to order the blonde to shake. "You guys help me, and in exchange, you get to boss me around."

His counterpart looked straight at him again, and frowned. "So that you can break it?"

The red-head paused. And then sighed. He looked a little saddened, perhaps a little hurt, but he never retracted his hand.

"No. I'm not goin' to. I swear. I'm done with being an ass... For now. I need the help. You already said you'd give me the help, but, if we shake on it, it means that we..."

"...We have no way to break it." Vexen interjected. "I see your point. You require our help, correct? But, we do not require yours."

"Larxene told me, 'the deal is more than fair'." The red-head told him.

Only at that point did the blonde decide that Larxene was no longer allowed to make decisions for the both of them on her own. Yet still, he was willing to accept the terms, he had made that clear. But, were the younger man to break them...

Axel was only half paying attention when the older man grasped his hand, and it surprised him slightly.

"And not a word of this to her, do you understand?" Vexen told him.

The red-head felt something he hadn't felt in quite a long time – relief. He felt relieved that, finally, there was a way he could complete this 'test' of Xemnas's... That there was a way he could find Roxas again. And, in some way, even if it wasn't true, he felt like he'd been forgiven for the death of his counterpart. He felt... Happy. And he smiled. Not a smirk, not a conceited grin – an actual smile. He gripped back on the older man's hand, and gave it a brisk shake.

"My lips are sealed, got it memorised?"

Vexen continued to frown, as if to show how uneasy he actually was with either the deal, or the handshaking itself. But both men were too involved in their agreement to realise that Aerith, whom had been stood in the archway between the two rooms watching the conversation, had brought her folded hands to her chest, and smiled.

* * *

_A/N: ALRIGHT! Finally finished! DO THA FUNKEH CHICKIN! UH-HUH, UH-HUH, UH-HUH!_

_I know we didn't leave Radiant Garden, or see the 412-mobile, but that'll be for the next chapter, cause this one's gone on long enough. It's about five pages longer than the last ones._

_Also, I named the chapters, but I think I'm going to go back to just 'chapter (number here)' again, because I'm an uncreative douchebag, and can't think of good chapter titles._

_Oh, and I added a couple of introduction words at the beginning of the first chapter. I still have some more stuff to edit, but I'll get to it all eventually._

_Anyway, I'm sorry this chapter took so long, but... Well, it's drive, really. I need more of it... And I'm getting distracted by Axis Powers Hetalia... Awesome series, and it's got really fantastic fandom potential. I hope it becomes more popular, I highly recommend it if, like me, you're actually kind of getting sick of the Kingdom Hearts fandom._

_Additionally, I felt I rushed the ending of this a little. I'll come back to it a little later, and if it still feels rushed, I'll have another hack at it. As always, opinions are very much welcomed in reviews! So, um... Please review? I apologise for the dead Dreamhare thing. That was totally immature of me._

_Okay, we'll get out of Radiant Garden in chapter NINE, then! And we'll finally get to see the 412-mobile, also! We've named it, but it's a surprise! Lolz!_

_Oh, and one last thing! Aerith pairing! It's been decided that she's going to be paired up in the future with one of the other Organization members... Originally, she was going to be with her actual boyfriend, Zack, from FFVII, but... Let's say something spoileriffic happens, and that isn't possible. So, who do you think she should be paired with? Out of the (feasible) Organization members, I mean. Do tell!_

_Right. That's enough of this long rant. So, review, review, review, please review? Lolz!_

_TTFN! Luffles you!_

_**Nweezle**_


	9. Chapter Nine

**Undying Hearts:**

**The Revenant Saga**

_This is actually the chapter you will need an open mind for. Forget what I said last time – this is the one you will need to be lenient for._

_First off, I'm really, really sorry about how late this chapter is. Life, other fandoms and writer's block get in the way, y'know? From this point on, though, new chapters should hopefully get more frequent again. Anyway, I've put more of an author note at the end... I'd refer to that if you're confused about anything. Again, it's got some important stuff in it._

_Can I also note that any missed spaces between commas and words isn't my fault – it's the formatting's fault! It looks fine on the raw document, but as soon as I upload to the internet, the spaces get missed out. But I try to fix as many of these errors as possible!_

_Right... So... Onwards, my dear readers!_

_

* * *

_

**Chapter Nine**

It took Vexen a couple of moments for him to manage to tear his hand out of Axel's tight grip. He rolled his eyes and gave an aggravated grunt, before shaking his head, as the red-head continued to smile, beginning to look conceited again.

"Don't think I won't remember those words, Axel." The blonde said, pivoting and heading for the collection of items he left on the staircase, and taking them with him as he left abruptly through the front door, slamming it behind himself.

"So, you're going to the station now, are you?" Aerith asked, approaching the red-head.

He looked at her, frowning in thought.

"You're going with Vexen and Larxene, right?" She continued upon seeing his expression.

"Oh, right. They're leavin' Radiant Garden today."

The brunette nodded. "Just for the day. Well, only for a few hours in fact, but you should be back by this evening, in our time."

"We're comin' back?" Axel's eyebrows raised a little, as did his tone of voice.

Aerith chuckled gently.

"You say that like you don't want to!" She joked. "Well, as you know, Vexen and Larxene work for Cid. He runs a delivery business, normally transporting resources and materials to other worlds that have been damaged by Heartless. It's actually Larxene's job, but Vexen owns the Gummi Ship."

"Huh. Didn't know that." He told her, giving a shrug. "Sounds kinda selfless, especially for _those _two."

She just smiled in response. "Anyway, this is the last delivery they have, and it's a couple of days behind schedule; Cid's been irritating everyone about it since Larxene got ill."

"So, I'm going with them?"

The brunette nodded.

"I think so. Vexen probably went ahead just now." She said. "I'll go with you to the station. Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be." He told her, flashing an ironic smile.

"Alright then!"

Aerith made her way over to the coat rack, but then paused for a moment, and turned back.

"Oh, by the way, can I ask you something?" She said, her voice becoming quieter.

"Sure?" Axel responded, raising an eyebrow again in question.

She took a pale pink-coloured coat off the rack (even if she hadn't have done so, based on the colour and style there would have been no doubt that that one was her coat amongst the other darker and more plain coats).

"Well... It's about... Someone from the Organization." She said, holding the garment over her shoulders like a shawl.

He folded his arms. He'd half expected her to be asking about _that _subject again. "Hm?"

The brunette seemed quite uncomfortable as she opened the front door and walked out, turning back once outside, waiting for him. "Umm... Well, you see..."

She proceeded to shut the door behind him once he had also stepped outside into the bitter winter air, as he waited for her to continue.

"Um, I know a little about Castle Oblivion... Riku told us some, and Vexen and Larxene... Well, you know how they are."

"Oh, yeah, you said so, yesterday." He rolled his eyes a little.

"I know it's all part of a past you all want to forget, but..."

"Look." He told her bluntly. "Are you sure Vexen wants you to know anythin' more than he's already told you?"

Aerith looked up at him, her eyes a little widened and her lips parted. He frowned back, and then, at a slow pace, her head dropped.

"No, but, please... I'd like to know."

Still unsure, Axel sighed, stepping forward past her. "Let's walk and talk."

"Oh. Sure." She said, shuffling quickly along the cold ground to his side.

"Weeeeelllll, like I said, I really shouldn't be telling you anything about the Organization you don't already know." He said, as they made their way into the maze of winding streets ahead. "But, I guess it depends on what you want to know."

As they turned a corner around a dwelling on their way out of the borough, she responded. "I'd like to know about Marluxia."

At that moment, the red-head felt that, despite how cold the day was, and despite how much warmer Leon's clothing was than his own (although it still didn't count as appropriate winter clothing), the temperature around them dropped. And his heart sank deep into his stomach, like it had done when the brunette had first mentioned Larxene on the former day, but also much more painfully so, deeper and sharper, like he'd been stabbed with a dull knife.

His mouth and throat turned dry at that instant also, and he frowned, but carried on walking, managing to mutter out, "...Oh."

The young woman frowned too, but hers was more of concern.

"I'm sorry." She said, looking up at him, her tone sympathetic. "I guess he's... Sort of a touchy subject, right?"

He was forcing himself inside his mind, whilst she was speaking, not to remember _him_. Not to remember his face, not to remember his voice, not to remember _anything_. But try as he might, he came back to him, flooding back in the same gut-wrenching way that Larxene had when she'd been mentioned the previous day, but more so. _Much _more so.

"S'fine." He said, trying to at least keep his facial expression unmarred by the topic. "What did you wanna know?"

Radiant Garden was silent. Horribly silent. Pacing through the winding streets, their footsteps and their conversation seemed too loud. Axel was scanning the ground for traces of blood from when his nose had been broken – an attempt to think about something else whilst Aerith mused on the subject for a short while.

Moments later, she had her answer. "He's the reason you went after Vexen, is that right?"

The red-head scratched the back of his head.

"Well... Depends how you look at it." He told her, not liking the sound of where the discussion was going. "Y'see, Marluxia wanted the Organization, and Vexen, bein' one of the senior members, got in his way."

The brunette looked bemused. "But, weren't you the one who...?"

Her voice had trailed off, but he knew what she meant.

"Yeah." He gave a heavy shrug. "I played all sides. That's what made me the real traitor of the Organization."

"Oh... So then..."

"I'm not proud of it, but, it was hell there. Wasn't much of a friendly bunch. Seemed like everyone was allied on the surface, but you'd always be lookin' over your shoulder for someone who'd gladly stab you in the back. Can't trust anyone who doesn't have a heart. The only thing that kept any 'order' was the price to pay for treachery."

The young woman's eyes were filled with fascination and curiosity. Here he was, talking about how he'd betrayed the Organization – Vexen and Larxene included – and yet, instead of being repulsed, she was intrigued, and wanted to know more.

"What price?" She enquired, tilting her head a little. "Death?"

"Nah. Death would mean you were useless to 'em. The price was gettin' turned into a Dusk; lesser Nobody. So it'd basically make you _pretty much _useless."

_'Sure, but I'm not getting turned into a Dusk for...' _

"Hm... Say..."

The red-head's own words repeated through his mind, instead of what Aerith was saying.

_'...Wait a sec, you remember now!'_

"...If you're alive, and Vexen and Larxene are alive..."

His thoughts were wandering again. Back to _him_.Back to _Roxas_. Back to memories of his best friend – memories of the time they had spent with one and other – memories that seemed to radiate a rare warmth; a pleasant warmth, very different to the searing flames that Axel was used to. It was much more akin to the warmth experienced on a summer's day in Twilight Town, and perhaps it was the lazy afternoons they spent there, the vast view of the whole world beneath them from the heights of the bell tower, with nothing to do after their missions but watch the golden hues of the town pass them by as they devoured sea salt ice cream that linked the sensation to the memory.

Or perhaps it was something more... Perhaps it was always just _Roxas_.

It was a strange occurrence for the red-head – a creator and wielder of excessive heats through pure fire – that whenever he recalled these memories, he didn't feel so cold any more.

"...Then I suppose Marluxia would be, too?"

"Huh?"

Aerith came to a halt when they had reached the courtyard in front of the Gummi ship station at the bottom of the marketplace, and hence Axel also stopped in the familiar surrounding. It was familiar in the sense that it was mostly the same as it had been the previous days; how he had observed it to be when he had been sat alone in front of the station doors, but there were a few noticeable differences that day – for one, there were no townspeople going about their lives, which was understandable, despite the large population increase in that world. Though no one was directly told to stay indoors after the Heartless attack, the people wanted to take this precaution. This caused the dead quiet that spread across the whole communal area of the world. The air was different too; instead of the still, sharp and frosty atmosphere that would create the glistening ice on the pavements, there was a cold, empty wind – and apart from that, everything was silent.

She put her hands on her hips after not receiving a feasible response from him.

"Were you listening?" She asked in a playful manner, her eyebrows raised.

"Eh, sorry." He said, shrugging a little.

The brunette didn't chide him; instead, she began to look around the courtyard, examining it like she'd never been there before. Then, she sighed.

"...Radiant Garden..." She said quietly. Her vision moved towards the stone steps on the opposite side of the courtyard that lead up towards the main section of the marketplace. "It's become a ghost town..."

The red-head glanced at her. "Isn't there any authority in this world? Y'know... A mayor, or a President? Someone who can 'reassure the people'?"

She shook her head.

"No... There hasn't been a leader in Radiant Garden since Ansem the Wise..." She replied, turning to face him. "Technically, we – the Restoration Committee – hold the most authority."

"Then... Why don't you do somethin'?" He said unrhetorically, shrugging.

She brought her hand to her chin in thought for a moment, before simply smiling at him.

"Mmm, that's right." She nodded. "We should do what we can... _I_ should do what _I_ can."

Aerith then glanced around the area. Axel wasn't sure why at first, but after doing so himself, he realised Vexen and Larxene had already disappeared through the station doors.

"You should go." The brunette said, smiling like she would start giggling again. "They can both get impatient, so you shouldn't keep them waiting."

"Yeah, yeah, I know..." He muttered. He didn't really care if he was keeping them waiting or not, and this was apparent; she could see this, and it didn't seem to surprise her at all.

"I should get back too. I guess I'll see you when you come back, hmm?" She continued, turning in the direction of the way back to the borough, but not before giving him a quick wave. "Take care, Axel. Goodbye!"

"...See ya." He said, as she jogged off, waiting until she was out of sight before moving.

He turned, and looked through the glass doors of the station. Though it was hard to see anything through them, there was one thing he noticed right away – there was no one inside. Like Aerith had said, following the Heartless attack, no one wanted to leave their homes, let alone take the transit system. He was also pretty sure that the doors had opened automatically before, so he presumed, whilst taking the cold metal handle and pulling it open, that the station wasn't open to the public anyway.

The stench of glossair fuel still lingered inside, but the station was otherwise hollow. The door made a loud noise when it shut, which resounded throughout the main hall, and every footstep Axel took inside seemed to crack against the floor ten decibels higher than intended.

Vexen and Larxene were both silent. _Incredibly _silent. Which made it worse. The station had many long, vast hallways that lead to separate, and often specific gates or ships. They were stood at the one nearest to the front doors on the right hand side of the colossal building – above which was a large, bold sign that read: **'Hangars S-Z'**. Axel approached them, noting that they were stood at least four metres apart from each other, too. And he didn't know if that should have surprised him or not. But he had little time to think about it; as soon as he advanced the threshold between the separate areas, Larxene turned and walked down the hallway.

"I assume you came to Radiant Garden aboard a Gummi ship, correct?" Vexen asked.

Trying not to take much notice of the blonde woman as she left the scene quickly with a blank expression, the red-head looked straight at the older man when he spoke up.

"Yeah, but I came on the transit system. Must be different having your own ship."

The blonde said nothing in response. Instead, he pivoted, and walked at a steady pace. Axel dragged his feet along the carpeted flooring a step or so behind him.

"So all the ships come and go through that huge gate on the side of the world, right?" He half-mumbled, just trying to find something to ask to make the current situation less awkward.

"The master gate, yes. However, below this hallway is a collection of underground passageways, leading from separate gates and hangars to the master gate." Vexen explained.

"Sounds like a crackpot idea. Who thought it up?"

"The invention was collaborated. A businessman residing within Radiant Garden had partial influence, and is also currently funding the entire project. The intention was to link the worlds that were formerly isolated from each other due to certain circumstances – the Heartless, for example."

The red-head smirked a little. "So, why're _you _in on it?"

Vexen's voice seemed to waver as he responded. "...It... Is none of your concern."

"So, you actually fly this ship, or what?" The younger man changed the subject to a considerably more interesting one (in his opinion) when his yawn had ceased.

The blonde shot him what appeared to be an offended glare over his shoulder.

"What the _hell_ else do you think I do with it?"

In response, Axel rolled his eyes and sighed. "...Actually, I didn't know you were able to fly Gummi ships."

"Yes. It was something I learnt in my life as my Other." The blonde said, turning his head back to face forward.

The red-head pondered aloud, "Hey, didn't the Organization have a Gummi ship?"

He earned a nod in confirmation.

"The _Dreadnought_... It was obsolete, there was – in fact – no need for it. After all, what need is there for a vessel when we could use the darkness to move between worlds in mere seconds? I don't recall it ever having a real name, either."

At the end of the hallway was an elevator. They came to a halt, and the blonde pressed the round button at the side of the elevator doors with the pad of his thumb.

It took a few seconds, but the red-head smiled. "Interesting."

The elevator pinged aloud, and the doors opened swiftly. They both stepped in, and the blonde proceeded to push the button labelled **U**.

As it descended, the elevator buzzed over the prolonged silence that followed. The awkward seconds spent in there seemed to drip past like minutes. Occasionally, Vexen would glance up at the screen that showed the current hangar, but he mostly kept his eyes on the floor. The younger man, however, continually watched the red block letters run through the alphabet. **S... T... **_**U**_**.**

It came to a halt on **U**, and the doors opened again, onto another short corridor, otherwise completely cold and dark if not lit by bright strip lights across the ceiling, which made sense. They were underground, now, though Axel didn't quite know how far underground. He wasn't sure how far down '**U**' was, so he raised the question as they both stepped out.

"Just how far down are we?"

"I can only estimate. I should think at least three hundred meters below the surface." The older man replied.

At the other end of the short corridor was another doorway. The glossair smell was dense, much more so now than above ground. When he reached the door, Vexen heard a couple of familiar voices coming from inside. He wasn't very surprised when he opened the door to find Larxene and Cid inside the large hangar, both of whom came to abrupt halts in their banter (which usually consisted of 'y'damn Bimbo' and 'old man', and vice versa) and looked towards him.

When the red-head stepped in the room after his counterpart, he was astounded. Very much so. The hangar consisted of mostly dull, plain metallic walls, floors and other articles; one wall was, in fact, a massive doorway, apparently to the underground passageways that lead to the master gate, if Axel were to take a guess based on what Vexen had told him. But lit up in the strobe lighting was a huge Gummi ship, at least as big as the some of the smaller transit ships that he'd seen (the bigger ones that were built to carry hundreds of people at a time were colossal, and probably wouldn't even fit in that hangar, which was at least fifty metres high and wide, if not more), formed from bright blue Gummi blocks, with vast bright yellow wings on either side. The Teeny ships, positioned at least ten yards at either side of the vessel, were almost exact scaled down versions of the main ship, but certainly not as impressive. Cid, meanwhile, had just finished refuelling the ship with fuel through a pipe that had been connected to the side of one block. He closed the block and was recoiling the pipe.

"Cid wants to check the Teeny ships over. We're leaving them behind." Larxene told Vexen plainly.

The blonde man nodded once in response, watching her as she tossed her hair.

"We're ready to leave, once the traitor stops gawking."

Once he came to the realisation that he was being spoken of, Axel snapped out his short trance that the ship had seemed to put him under. Larxene glowered at him, and signalled towards the ship's entrance with her thumb.

He scowled in return and mumbled as he staggered towards the steps that seemed to form the door of the ship, "Yes, '_Ma'am_'."

"Okay, kiddos." Cid growled, his arms folded across his chest. "Everythin's done. She's all yours."

He walked off without another word. To this, Larxene proceeded up the steps to the doorway after Axel. She said nothing as she pushed past him on the way to the ship's bridge. He frowned, shifting out of her way as she did so, and only followed when they were a safe distance from each other. The bridge was fairly dark, and lit up only by artificial lights; various neon-coloured lights created by the controls and a dim main light overhead. She removed Vexen's coat and slung it over the back of what was clearly the pilot's seat, front and centre, before taking the seat to its right.

Behind were four much smaller seats arranged in two rows with an aisle down the middle that lead in and out of the bridge. In a cautious manner, the red-head made his way into what could only be described as the blonde woman's den in that current state. When she noticed his presence, she stood from her seat and pointed to the back seats, as if instructing a dog.

"I swear, traitor – If you come near _The_ _Famfrit's_ controls, I'll neuter you."

There was a seat to the direct left of the pilot's, which had nothing in front of it but an empty dashboard. Axel took this seat instead.

"_The_ _Famfrit_, huh? Nice contraption." He came across as sarcastic, but he was actually pretty impressed by the ship. Though the lack of windows, along with the poor lighting and cool room temperature in the bridge reminded him of Vexen's laboratories back in the Organization's castles (somewhat unsurprisingly). Looking around the bridge, he also noted that it seemed to be quite small. And the ship was fairly big, so there must have been a few other rooms on board, at least. He considered giving himself a tour when their backs were turned, but, of course, he had to put it off for the time being.

She continued pointing in a frantic manner. "Move, traitor!"

He crossed his legs and folded his arms, making himself more comfortable on purpose. Just as Larxene opened her mouth to order him to move again, Vexen entered the bridge, making his way to the central seat and pressing on a couple of the controls to close the entrance. After it was secure, the bridge doors also shut with a hiss. When he seemed to take no notice of where Axel was seated, the young woman frowned, and sat back down again.

"The last outstanding order..." She said.

The blonde man sighed whilst taking his own seat. "Your point being?"

"Hmm? It hasn't processed yet?" She snorted in response, tapping a few commands into the small screen on her dashboard. "This means my debt's repayed and I can leave the Restoration Committee."

Vexen took a few sheets of paper that were above the set of controls in front of him, sat back in his seat and proceeded to flick through them.

"And where, may I ask, do you plan on going?"

"Well, no where until the deal with the traitor's over."

"...Interesting." The older man responded whilst reading through the paperwork. "Especially since you despise it so much here and no one has stopped you from leaving already."

"Wow, you really _have _forgotten. Cid told me once I filled enough orders, he'd find me a ship of my own."

"...To make more deliveries, of course."

"That's what _he _thinks."

Vexen grumbled. "How like you. Perhaps I'll inform him of your plans when we make our return."

Larxene snorted. "Snitch."

"Whore."

"Fucker."

Axel, although he was quite enjoying their argument, suppressed his laughter and spoke up. "Now now, children. Haven't we got somewhere to be?"

The blonde man cleared his throat, ignoring the young woman as she shot yet another harsh glower at the red-head, whom had a strained smirk pasted on his face. "I believe so."

"So how do you fly this thing?" The younger man asked, changing the subject quickly.

"Easy enough, traitor, even for you." Larxene responded, without hesitation, even though Vexen was also about to answer; jabbing her finger at the screen on her dashboard again. "You input coordinates on this system here, then you sit back and let the old man over there pretend he's doing all the work!"

Whilst Axel merely shrugged and said 'Oh, I see' in a way that sounded like he didn't _quite _believe her, the blonde man groaned again.

He was perfectly sure that what was, in reality, only a twenty minute flight, was going to seem like hours.

* * *

A silence, an empty silence, much emptier than even Radiant Garden could have ever been on that day, was abrupted.

The great white throne room had almost been destroyed due to the castle's pseudo-destruction in the former year (not that time passed exactly in that world, for it was a world of nothingness and the things that only really 'existed' were physical, something time was not), but whereas twelve of the tall, pillar-like seats had toppled and crumbled inwards onto the central platform, shattering it, and outwards to the blank white non-existence that encased the room, one still stood – once the highest of all of them, now the highest of all of them, forever and always to be the highest of all of them.

And in the seat of the unflawed throne was a man clad in the now infamous black cloak of the Organization, the hood pulled all the way up. But even though his face was hidden under the shroud, it was obvious from the broadness of his shoulders, the upright manner in which he sat – his back straight and his legs uncrossed, and the dominating presence of both these factors, whom he was, unless, of course, one knew nothing about the Organization whatsoever.

He didn't even flinch when noise occurred, however – when a swirling black portal that had opened upon the pile of fallen pillar thrones that buried the room's central platform. The darkness seethed and swished and soon faded away, to reveal another man wearing the same trademark black coat, his hood also covering his face. But this man was smaller and slimmer in frame than the man seated above him, with shoulders that were much more sloped, making him difficult to identify.

"It is done, Superior." He said in a calm, smooth, but clear voice, raising his head under his hood to look straight upwards.

The seated man said nothing, but slowly moved his head a little to look down on the other. A long silence followed. The man perched upon the pile of fallen thrones had expected to be dismissed, but wasn't, and so in the end spoke up again.

"Was there something else you wanted?" He asked in a strange sort of politeness, almost suspiciously so.

Again, no spoken response came. However, the Superior raised his hand, his movements still very slow, and behind the other cloaked man another dark portal whooshed into appearance. Said man glanced over his shoulder at the portal, a smile forming on his shaded lips.

He looked back upwards to speak again. "As you wish."

But despite his words, he walked into the portal blindly, not knowing where it lead. It was pitch black, and the snarling and hissing of the darkness was loud as it closed in behind him. Yet he walked, and walked, as he had done many times before through the darkness, and soon the black abyss of nothing flickered away and revealed a golden light...

...An unmistakable golden light, the one that belonged only to a certain world – Twilight Town.

Little had changed in the sleepy little hamlet. It was always the kind of world that was relaxed and went at a snail's pace, and when the cloaked man stepped out, he was greeted by the warmth of the sun and the scent of the ocean.

But none of that was of any concern to him. He was there to do what the Superior wanted him to do... Even though he had to figure it out first.

He pondered that matter whilst walking away from the disappearing portal, away from the station plaza where he had come into the world and through the yellow-brick streets that wound in between quaint, angular houses, very much like the ones in Radiant Garden, but sloped because the town had been constructed on a hill; the station at the very top of said hill and town.

He noted very little about the town though, asides from the fact that it was completely empty. He brushed off this matter, figuring it was probably very early in the morning there, not that it was easy to tell since the world seemed to constantly be at 'twilight'. His mind was more focused on why he was there, of all places. There had to have been a good reason.

It started to get on his nerves, after he had searched the sandbox and the tram common over. All the nooks and crannies of Twilight Town didn't seem to have the answer he was looking for. And after he spent at least an hour doing the same in the underground tunnels, it got inane.

There were no people in the world, no Heartless or Nobodies either, and nothing of particular interest, so why was he there? He continued to wonder this as he walked through the crack in the wall of the tram common that lead into the bordering forest. At this point he figured the answer was at the abandoned mansion within the forest, but he was already quite irritated by the fact he was made to search the rest of the world first.

And he was right.

There was clinking and grinding beyond the wooded area, in the direction of the mansion. A familiar clinking and grinding that was well-known to any member of the Thirteenth Order. And as he got nearer, the clinking and grinding got louder, and he could hear a young voice yelling and panting and screaming and grunting in conjunction with the noises.

Heartless – so the man judged from the dark shadows that were collapsing beneath each swing of the ornate Keyblades.

Heartless, and a young man in a black coat.

Now it became perfectly clear why he was there.

The young man wore his hood up, but the other cloaked figure, whom now approached him from the shadows of the woodland, knew exactly who he was. He stood by the massive iron gate of the mansion, the Keyblades firmly in his grip, but he was panting heavily, his body loose and stooping.

The older man stepped across the grass to where he was.

"Well done." He said, his voice shocking the young man so much he jerked upwards as if he'd had a heart attack.

"Wh-Who're you!"

It was definite from his voice and his body language whom he was – he remembered him quite clearly.

"A friend." The older man replied, putting his polite tone on again and offering his hand, whilst looking downwards into the hooded shroud from his own.

The younger hesitated, and turned his head away, repeating in a stammer, "A... 'F-Friend'?"

"Yes, of course." He told him, smiling beneath his hood.

Despite this, the younger man seemed reluctant and hostile, though it didn't come as a surprise the older.

"What's... A 'friend'?" He enquired, which wasn't a surprising question, either.

"You've forgotten what it is, and you've forgotten many other things too... But don't worry. You'll find out soon enough."

The younger man seemed to flinch a little, his hostility not disappearing.

"We're wearing the same coats..." He muttered, as if he'd only just noticed.

"Yes, because you and I are the same, Roxas."

The older man's smile widened even more when the younger's hooded countenance looked back up at him quickly with another flinch.

"R-Roxas...? Is that...? Am I...?"

"You must have a lot of questions." The older stated, raising his hand up further. "I'd be happy to answer them."

The younger looked downwards again, and light glinted in his hands as he dismissed the Keyblades. He only looked back at the other to speak up.

"So... You know who I am?"

"Well. That depends."

"On what?"

"On how you would define 'who you are'." There was no response to this statement, and so the older man spoke again, "Would you like to know who you are?"

"I don't know." Came the prompt reply.

Chuckling, he put a firm hand onto the younger's cloaked head, giving it a shake as if he were ruffling his hair through the hood.

"I just woke up here just now, then those creatures came and attacked me!" He went on to say, after the other had removed his hand.

"The Heartless?"

"...The 'Heartless'..." He repeated.

"You really don't remember anything, do you?" The older man continued to chuckle, his tone still soft.

The younger gave a shrug. "Sorry?"

"Memories are fickle things, aren't they? You shouldn't worry."

Another pause.

"You've gotten taller since I last saw you, Roxas. You must be sixteen now."

Another shrug.

"I wouldn't know..."

"Then... We'll go back. So that you can remember."

Roxas let his head stoop even further down into his shoulders, and the other hooded man used the silence to think for a moment. His show of emotion through his body language and tone of voice was unbecoming, but perhaps that was to be expected. Roxas was no ordinary Nobody – not last time, not this time, not ever. Unless like Nobodies often would do, the emotion was a façade, a mere reflection of his persona apparent through the shell of his body. Yet again, he wasn't normal, which made it doubtful. But still, his memory seemed to be completely blank, at least at that time, which was the interesting part. Normally, Nobodies would remember at least something from their past life, but like before, he didn't seem to recall anything. Surely, the Superior must have known why. Just then, near the bordering trees, a dark portal suddenly burst open. The younger jumped at the echoing whoosh that came with the black swirls, his vision darting straight to his right.

"Come." The older man said, having glanced briefly at the darkness, unphased by its appearance, before looking back at Roxas and noticing his jaw was wide open under the shade of his hood. He turned to face the portal and put his hand on the younger's shoulder again. "There's somewhere you must be."

"...B-But I..." He gasped from his dry mouth in response.

"It's alright. I know you must feel unsure. But if you don't come, you'll be wandering and fighting alone, without need; without purpose."

The taller figure smiled at the irony of the words he spoke. The boy was a Nobody, and technically shouldn't have been able to 'feel unsure', and would have no real 'purpose' no matter where he went or what he did. Yet again, the boy was a conundrum, a unique Nobody because of the Keyblade he wielded and the heart of his Other it had chosen.

Again, Roxas hesitated. But he drew in a deep breath, and began to walk towards the portal in a confident stride, like he knew what lay on the other side of the swirling vortex of black; like he knew it was safe and he would get the answers he wanted... Like he was as easy to convince as ever.

The other figure followed him. Now they'd found Number XIII, everything was going to plan.

* * *

_A/N: What is this! A chapter! FINISHED! LE. GASPE._

_Okay guys, thanks for all your feedback so far. Updates should get a LOT quicker now. Like, not... Every year and a half. Or else I'll be dead before this fic's finished._

_What else can I say? Hmm... Hope this chapter is intriguing and not too 'filler'-ish. It's shorter than the last chapter but still a bit longer than some of the earlier ones. Anyway. I've also had words with Lusky and we're thinking of scrapping her side of the story, as in, the side that was supposed to be centric around Sora, Riku and Kairi. The reason for this is that we felt, among other reasons like us not having an awful lot of time, as well as other fandoms, that having that series parallel to this one would most likely spoil the surprises in one or the other. So it might be better, and indeed quicker for updates on this story, if we worked together on just this instead._

_Otherwise, I'm giving the earlier A/Ns a clean-up, and that's about it, I think! _

_So, down there's the review button I keep reminding you all of! Don't hesitate to leave comments, suggestions, critique, anything and everything you've gotta say in your review, please! And thanks for so many favourites and alerts, I'm really glad people are enjoying this._

_TTFN! Luff and fluff!_

_**Nweezle**_


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